The Mets and Tigers will play a split doubleheader on Wednesday. (Paul Sancya, AP)
DETROIT — For the third time in four days, the Mets are underwater.
After two postponements over the weekend in New York, the Mets went to Detroit hoping for better weather. But with rain and possibly even snow in the forecast, the first game of the three-game set at Comerica Park was postponed. The two teams will play a split doubleheader Wednesday with the first game starting at 1:40 p.m. and the second at 6:40 p.m.
The last thing the Mets wanted or needed was a doubleheader after playing one Monday. The bullpen is thin after having to cobble together more than eight innings of relief in the first game against the Atlanta Braves on Monday and they needed three to get through the second game.
If their starters can go deep on Wednesday, it would alleviate the pressure on the bullpen. Joey Lucchesi is lined up to start the first game and Max Scherzer will start the second.
This week will mark the returns of Scherzer and Justin Verlander. Scherzer hasn’t pitched since April 19 when he was ejected for what the umpires deemed “excessive” rosin use. An ejection carries a 10-game suspension and because of the postponements, Scherzer was forced to sit out for the entire series against the Braves.
Scherzer is eager to get back on the mound and start going deeper into games.
“When the start of the rotation goes and guys are chewing up innings, it saves some innings on the bullpen,” Scherzer said Tuesday at Comerica Park. “Then those guys start getting into roles, and when they get into roles, they get comfortable, they start pitching better.”
Verlander, Scherzer’s former teammate in Detroit, will make his Mets debut Wednesday in the series finale. The 2022 AL Cy Young Award winner has been sidelined with a teres major strain that was diagnosed right before Opening Day. His rehab and recovery have gone well and he didn’t have to take any breaks from throwing or playing catch, which helped expedite his return.
It’s a familiar place for Verlander to pitch for an unfamiliar team, but he’s more than ready to familiarize himself with his new uniform and the new fans by putting up good numbers on the mound.
“It’s nice to finally start to get that little energy, the nervousness starts to kick in and you know your start day is getting close,” Verlander said. “I’m ready to go.”
()
Originally published at Tribune News Service