Today at 3:35 p.m. ET, the New York Mets (59-68) and Oakland Athletics (74-51) take the field at the O.co Coliseum in Oakland for the second and final contest of a brief two-game series. The game can be live streamed for free here. New York fans can hear all of the action on WOR 710 while Oakland fans can do the same on 95.7 The Game.
New York enters the second contest of a five-game road trip looking to wake up its bats and avoid a four-game skid while Oakland comes into the afternoon in the second clash of a five-game homestand after snapping a five-game losing streak Tuesday. The A's defeated the Mets 6-2 Tuesday night.
New York enters play in fourth place in the National League East and are 13.5 games behind the first place Washington Nationals while Oakland is second in the American League West, a half-game shy of the division-leading Los Angeles Angels and hold the top wild-card spot in the AL.
Zack Wheeler (8-8, 3.49 ERA) mans the mound for the Mets and is 5-0 in his last nine starts while the A's turn to Jeff Samardzija, who is 5-9 overall this season with a 2.96 ERA and 3-2 with a 3.21 ERA since being traded to Oakland from the Chicago Cubs in July.
Samardzija will look to stop a New York lineup that is led by second baseman Daniel Murphy, who should be well-rested after a day off Wednesday that his manager thought he really needed.
"He [knew] he needed it," Mets skipper Terry Collins said per MLB.com. "With a day off on Thursday, it kind of gives him two days off this week to maybe regenerate those batteries a little bit. You can start to see when Dan's swing gets a little long, he's out of gas, because he knows how to hit. He doesn't go through these long stretches where he's not swinging good."
Murphy is 3-for-6 with a homer in his career against Samardzija and leads the Mets with a .297 batting average while ranking first in the NL with 152 hits and tied for fourth with 34 doubles. First baseman Lucas Duda is fifth in the NL with 22 homers and leads New York with 66 RBI.
The Athletics counter with a lineup that is flanked by Josh Donaldson, who leads the team with 25 homers and 84 RBI while ranking tied for third in the AL with 78 runs scored. Oakland outfielder Coco Crisp paces the team with a .256 batting average entering today.
The Mets and Athletics close out a brief two-game set when they take the field at the O.co Coliseum this afternoon in Oakland.
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