In his second start in the big leagues, Jonah Tong takes the ball for the Mets against the Reds in the middle of a playoff chase.
Cincinnati is looking to make up some serious ground and sneak into the sixth spot in the National League Wild Card, but Friday’s 5-4 loss dropped them six games behind the Mets and Padres for the final NL bid.
Tong nervously was able to toss five innings in his MLB debut against the Marlins, while striking out six.
He’ll have a much stiffer test this time out, as he received a 12-run lead against Miami.
Tong will match up against former Royals starter Brady Singer.
Singer has been about league-average this year, posting a 4.08 ERA and a 12-9 record.
The Mets have not seen much of Singer, and, obviously, this is Tong’s second career start, so there’s very limited opportunity to draw back on past successes and/or failures.
The Mets have played well of late despite a hiccup in that Marlins series, where they lost three of four.
Still, I think a big piece of the pie is that the Mets struggle against teams that don’t strike out.
The Marlins strikeout near the bottom of the league, while the Phillies and Tigers — who they won five of six from recently — are near the top of the league in strikeouts.
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Cincinnati also strikes out plenty, ranking 24th with their 24 percent rate entering Friday.
For this reason, I like the Mets to put a bigger dent in the Reds’ playoff dreams and win outright Saturday.
PICK: Mets moneyline (-134, FanDuel)
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