New York @ Philadelphia preview
BB&T Ballpark at Historic Bowman Field
Last Meeting ( Aug 18, 2018 ) NY Mets 3, Philadelphia 1
The second edition of the MLB Little League Classic will feature the New York Mets and the Philadelphia Phillies as the National League East rivals meet Sunday night in Williamsport, Pa. The contest wraps up a five-game series between the teams that began with a doubleheader in Philadelphia on Thursday and has featured a pair of wins for both clubs.
Jacob deGrom pitched a complete game to lead the Mets to a 3-1 win in Saturday's matchup, which kept the Phillies one-half game out in the NL East. Devin Mesoraco homered while rookie Jeff McNeil ripped an RBI triple and singled as New York improved to 21-21 since July 1 after going 32-48 through June. A victory in Williamsport would give the Mets their 20th series win in the last 26 tries against Philadelphia. The Phillies will try to buck that trend in the rubber game behind Nick Pivetta, who opposes journeyman Jason Vargas at Bowman Field, home of the Williamsport Cutters of the New York-Penn League.
TV: 7:10 p.m. ET, ESPN
PITCHING MATCHUP: Mets LH Jason Vargas (2-8, 8.10 ERA) vs. Phillies RH Nick Pivetta (7-9, 4.37)
Vargas is 0-2 with a 6.89 ERA in four starts since returning from the disabled list last month but is coming off one of his better outings as a member of the Mets. He limited the Baltimore Orioles to two runs in a season-high six innings of a no-decision Tuesday on the road. Asdrubal Cabrera is 7-for-16 with a home run against Vargas and Carlos Santana is 9-for-41 without a homer.
Pivetta is 1-0 with a 1.50 ERA in three August starts after holding the high-powered Boston Red Sox to a run and three hits over six innings his last time out. He has lasted exactly six frames in four consecutive outings and owns 31 strikeouts against four walks in that span. The 25-year-old from British Columbia has yet to face the Mets this year after going 2-1 with a 4.98 ERA in four starts against them in 2017.
WALK-OFFS
1. Mets 3B Todd Frazier, OF Michael Conforto and Phillies SS Scott Kingery all played in the Little League World Series as kids.
2. New York OF Brandon Nimmo (finger) missed his third straight game Saturday and is day-to-day.
3. Pittsburgh defeated St. Louis 6-3 in the first Little League Classic last year.
PREDICTION: Phillies 6, Mets 4