The Mets face the Giants in a three-game series in San Francisco that starts on Monday night.
Here are five things to watch…
Mets‘ offense against the Giants’ top starting pitchers
After the Mets had to deal with the Los Angeles Dodgers‘ three best pitchers over the weekend, they’ll have to face the Giants’ three best pitchers this week — because of course.
Kevin Gausman (Monday), Logan Webb (Tuesday), and Anthony DeSclafani (Wednesday) will be the new Mets challenge after they faced Julio Urias, Walker Buehler, and Max Scherzer as they were swept by the Dodgers.
While Gausman, Webb, and DeSclafani don’t have the pure stuff of guys like Buehler and Scherzer, they have helped propel the Giants to the best record in the league. And the Mets’ offense, which has been their main problem all season, is still largely dormant.
As Lindor works his way back from an oblique injury, he is on the Mets’ West Coast trip — and there is a chance he’ll be activated from the IL without going on a rehab assignment first.
Lindor has ramped up his rehab in recent days as he has taken batting practice while also running the bases and fielding grounders at shortstop.
It remains to be seen how many more hurdles Lindor needs to clear before he is activated, but if he comes off the IL without going on a rehab stint first, that activation could came rather quickly.
The NL East situation
The Mets entered the weekend a half game back in the NL East (tied in the loss column). They exited the weekend 2.5 games behind of the Atlanta Braves in the NL East (2.0 losses back).
With the Braves facing the Miami Marlins and Baltimore Orioles this week, the Mets can not afford to continue losing games in bunches.
There should also be concern about the second-place Phillies creating a gap, with Philadelphia set to face the hapless Arizona Diamondbacks this week.
May hasn’t pitched since his rough outing against the Washington Nationals on Thursday, when he allowed three runs on two hits while walking one in just one third of an inning as the Mets blew a three-run lead before eventually winning in extra innings.
That performance was atypical of May’s second half, which has been mostly dominant.
Before Thursday’s outing, May had allowed just two runs over his previous 12 appearances.
The Stro Show
Without Jacob deGrom, Marcus Stroman has been the Mets’ most reliable starting pitcher. And they’ll need more of the same from Stroman against the Giants.
Over his last five outings, Stroman has allowed just nine runs while striking out 28 batters in 29 innings.
Stroman will get the ball for the Mets on Tuesday night.