The New York Mets look to get a win today to split the series with the Cubs.
A controversial call ended the Mets hope in tying the game last night, but that is in the rear view mirror.
Today, Adrian Houser looks to prove that he belongs on this ball club as he is set to take the mound for the Mets. In his last two starts it seemed that everyone was hitting the baseball hard against him. Houser let up a combined 16 hits and 14 runs in his last two appearances. However, Houser has faced the Cubs plenty of times in his career and he holds a 3-2 record with an ERA of 3.74 in 13 appearances. Over the 13 appearances he has 45 strikeouts and has only given up one earned run the last three starts against them. A prove it start for Houser to show that he will be able to turn his season around.
For the Cubs Long Island native, former high school teammate of Steven Matz, Ben Brown will get the start. Another rookie in the start rotation for the Cubs who has had a better year than the stats may show. His ERA through seven appearances is a 4.30, largely because he gave up six earned runs against the Rangers in an inning and two thirds. Since then Brown has settled down and has made a few starts and a couple bullpen appearances. He mixes between his fastball and knuckle curve with excellent velocity, but has given up a lot of hard hit balls. For a struggling Mets offense it will be interesting to see the approach against Brown this afternoon.
Keys to the game:
The Mets offense is going to have to figure out a way to bring runs across. It is no secret that the bats are very cold, someone is going to have to step up. The question is who will it be?