Tonight at 7:10 p.m. ET, the Philadelphia Phillies (15-18) and New York Mets (16-17) take the diamond at Citi Field for the start of a three-game set. The game can be live streamed here. Philadelphia fans can hear all of the action on 120 WPHT while New York fans can do the same on WOR 710.
Philadelphia has lost four straight games and continues a brief five-game road trip that they are 0-2 on to start it off while New York comes home for a quick three-game homestand after a nine-game road trip saw them go 2-6 with a postponement.
The Mets defeated the Phillies 6-1 on April 29 during their last road trip with the second game getting rained out. Roberto Hernandez (2-1, 4.50 ERA) will toe the rubber for the Phillies while Jenrry Mejia (3-0, 5.23 ERA) mans the mound for the Mets.
Mejia has allowed 14 runs in his last two starts as he's had trouble with teams in the second and third time around the batting order, leading to whispers that he may be headed to the bullpen.
Hernandez, meanwhile, is coming off of a great start where he limited the Washington Nationals to four hits over 7.1 scoreless innings.
"Hernandez was so locked in," Phillies center fielder Ben Revere said per MLB.com. "He hit his spots. When he fell behind, he got a groundout or flyout. Today was his day."
Despite Philadelphia's struggles, New York manager Terry Collins points to their healthy lineup as a reason to proceed with caution in this series.
"The Phillies, for years, didn't have [Chase] Utley and [Ryan] Howard in their lineup for a while," Collins told MLB.com. "But everybody's got their guys [now], so it's going to be a catfight as we get down into the summer. Each and every night you play in your division is going to be a tough game."
Utley is tied for third in the NL with 12 doubles and is hitting .325 with three homers and 16 RBIs. Howard has belted seven homers in 32 games but is hitting just .236 and ranks fifth in the NL with 40 strikeouts.
Speedy Mets outfielder Eric Young Jr. is second in the majors with 12 stolen bases.
The Mets and Phillies open up their three-game set when they go head-to-head tonight at Citi Field.
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