Washington @ New York preview
Citi Field
Last Meeting ( Sep 4, 2011 ) NY Mets 6, Washington 3
THE STORY: A day after an emotional 10th anniversary of the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, two teams whose cities were most affected will begin a four-game series at Citi Field. The Washington Nationals head to New York on the heels of a 4-5 homestand, while the Mets have lost four of five to begin their nine-game stay at Citi Field. New York has won eight of the 14 meetings this season between the National League East rivals.
TV: 7:10 p.m. ET, MASN, SportsNet New York
PITCHING MATCHUP: Nationals LH Ross Detwiler (2-5, 3.83 ERA) vs. Mets RH R.A. Dickey (8-11, 3.47 ERA)
Detwiler has lost five of his six starts since rejoining the rotation Aug. 4 - with his last outing being the worst of the bunch. The Mets roughed him up for six runs over three innings in a 7-3 win Sept. 2. Detwiler is 1-1 with a 5.11 ERA in four games - two starts - against the Mets.
Dickey has posted nine consecutive quality starts and won his last three outings, including a victory against Detwiler and the Nationals on Sept. 2. In that contest, Dickey allowed three runs over six innings. He was even better Wednesday as he tossed seven scoreless innings versus the Florida Marlins. Dickey is 2-3 with a 4.18 ERA in 10 games - eight starts - against the Nationals. That includes a 1-2 mark and a 4.18 ERA in four starts against Washington this season.
ABOUT THE NATIONALS (67-77): The Nationals finished their homestand on a good note Sunday, getting three innings from Stephen Strasburg in his second major-league start since Tommy John surgery. In addition, Washington also posted an 8-2 win over the Houston Astros. The win was just the fifth in 18 games for the Nationals, who took two of three from the Astros for their first series win since winning two of three against the Philadelphia Phillies from Aug. 19-21. Second baseman Danny Espinosa broke an 0-for-15 slide with a pair of doubles Sunday.
ABOUT THE METS (71-75): The Mets have hovered around the .500 mark for much of the season, but they're sliding in the wrong direction and running out of time to get to the break-even point. New York hasn't had a winning season since going 89-73 in 2008. Sunday's loss came on a night when the Mets held a 24-minute pregame tribute to victims of the terrorist attacks. The Mets rallied in the eighth to force extra innings, but the Cubs scored six times against New York's bullpen in the 11th and won 10-6. Jose Reyes went 1-for-5 to lower his average to .332 but still holds a one-point lead over Milwaukee's Ryan Braun for the National League batting lead.
FINAL PITCH: Ian Desmond, Rick Ankiel and Ryan Zimmerman hit consecutive home runs to start the third inning for Washington on Sunday. It was the first time since July 11, 2009, that the Nationals hit back-to-back-to-back homers.