The Washington Nationals will open a 3-game set tonight with the New York Mets in Queens. The Nationals at 60-63 know they still have a legitimate shot for a wild card berth, where the Mets at 53-69 realize they don’t, and that was evident at the trade deadline when they sent starting pitcher Clay Holmes packing to the Chicago Cubs and Freddy Peralta to the Tampa Bay Rays. Tonight the Nationals should be able to get to the Mets expected starter Robert Stock early. Stock is 0-2 with a bloated ERA of 10.13 and a 2.12 WHIP. Numbers like that do not bode well for Stock and the Mets when you are facing a Nationals team that is first in the majors in runs scored and home runs. Washington is expected to give the nod to Andrew Alvarez. He comes in at 2-3 with a respectable 3.76 ERA, a 1.40 WHIP, and was in the zone in his last turn against the Cincinnati Reds where he allowed just 1 run on 3 hits over 5-1/3 innings of work and Washington cruised to an easy 8-2 win. The Nationals have won 4 of the 7 meetings this year with New York, have played well on the road at 33-27, and the Mets are expected to be without Juan Soto who is once again not in the lineup due to an injury.
TONIGHT’S PICK: WASHINGTON NATIONALS