The New York Mets and the Chicago Cubs close out their three game series on Wednesday at Wrigley Field in Chicago, Illinois.
Entering Tuesday’s Game 2, the Cubs have won six games in a row while the Mets have won just half of their last six games.
The Mets offense has struggled all-season long as they find themselves at the lower part of the ladder in most offensive statistical categories. New York ranks 30th in batting average at .235 while they are just 23rd in one base percentage at .312. The Mets are also just 25th in the league in slugging percentage at .388 while their total of 545 runs scored this season is only good for 23rd overall in the league.
Their pitching hasn’t been that good although it also isn’t as bad as their offense. The Mets’ season ERA of 4.28 ranks 19th in the league while their WHIP of 1.31 is 13th overall. Their opponents’ batting average of .254 is just 20th in the league too.
Jason Vargas gets the start for the New York Mets. The 35 year old Long Beach State product has pitched a total of games this season, all of them starts. The lefty has a season record of 4-8 with an ERA of 6.96 and a WHIP of 1.61. In his last outing, Vargas picked up the victory, giving up just three hits over six scoreless innings while fanning a season best eight batters during the Mets’ 3-0 win over the Nationals last Friday.
That was Vargas’ best start of 2018 for the 12 year veteran southpaw hurler as only one runner got into scoring position against him. Vargas has now won his last two starts as he has given up just two runs on six hits with 11 strikeouts in a total of 11.1 innings pitched in both games. Still, he carries a high 6.96 ERA to Wednesday’s game against the Cubs. The Mets will need a similar effort from Vargas to have a good chance in this contest.
The red hot Cubs have put some separation between themselves and the St. Louis Cardinals in the National League Central team standings. Chicago has won six games in a row including a four game sweep of the Reds in their previous series. The Cubs beat the Mets 7-4 in the series opener and have won their first five games against the Mets this season.
Chicago’s offense has been excellent this season. Heading to Tuesday’s Game 2 against the Mets, they rank 2nd in the National League in batting average at .264 and first in on base percentage at .341. The Cubs’ slugging percentage of .424 is also 9th in the league while their total 633 runs scored rank fifth overall.
For the Cubs, it will be 26 year old prospect Alec Mills out of UT Martin who will open the game on top of the hill. The right handed Mills has pitched two games for the Cubs with one start. Mills has an ERA of 1.17 with a WHIP of 0.51 this season. He has not factored into the decision in any of the two games he has pitched.
In his last game pitched, Mills gave up one run on three hits and one walk with eight strikeouts across 5.2 innings pitched as the Cubs took a 3-2 10 innings win over the Cincinnati Reds last August 24, 2018. In a total of 7.2 innings pitched this season, Mills has given up just one run in four hits and one walk with 10 totals strikeouts. Mills will be seeking his first Major League victory on Wednesday.
The Cubs are 6-0 in their last 6 games overall and are 7-2 in their last 9 Game 3s of a series. They are also 41-19 in their last 61 home games. Meanwhile, the Mets are 5-13 in their last 18 versus teams from the National League Central including 0-4 during Vargas’ starts against National League Central Teams. New York has also won just twice in Vargas’ last 10 starts away from home.
Vargas has won two games in a row and is coming off his best start of the season. However, Vargas hasn’t been good on the road with a 2-4 record and an ERA of 8.15. On the other hand, Mills has been impressive for the Cubs although it’s only on a small sample size. Still, given how the Cubs’ offense has played this season and how the Mets’ offense has struggled, the Cubs should be able to pull this one off and end this three game series with a victory at home. We’re picking the Chicago Cubs to beat the New York Mets on 8/29/18.
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