Mets in action against the Pirates after Matz's solid outing
Pittsburgh Pirates (46-58, fifth in the NL Central) vs. New York Mets (49-55, fourth in the NL East)
Flushing, Queens; Sunday, 1 p.m. EDT
PITCHING PROBABLES: Pirates: Chris Archer (3-7, 5.40 ERA) Mets: Jason Vargas (5-5, 3.96 ERA)
LINE: Mets favored by 1 1/2 runs; over/under is 9 runs
BOTTOM LINE: New York heads into the matchup fresh off a dominant performance by Steven Matz. Matz went nine innings, giving up zero runs on five hits with seven strikeouts against Pittsburgh.
The Mets are 27-20 in home games. New York has a team on-base percentage of .320, led by Jeff McNeil with a mark of .393.
The Pirates are 23-31 on the road. Pittsburgh ranks fifth in the MLB in hitting with a .267 batting average, Bryan Reynolds leads the club with an average of .331. The Mets won the last meeting 3-0. Steven Matz earned his sixth victory and J.D. Davis went 2-for-3 with a double, a home run and two RBIs for New York. Trevor Williams took his fourth loss for Pittsburgh.
TOP PERFORMERS: Pete Alonso leads the Mets with 57 extra base hits and is batting .260. Dominic Smith is 6-for-26 with two home runs and eight RBIs over the last 10 games for New York.
Josh Bell leads the Pirates with 63 extra base hits and has 86 RBIs. Starling Marte has 14 hits and is batting .326 over the last 10 games for Pittsburgh.
LAST 10 GAMES: Mets: 6-4, .236 batting average, 2.27 ERA, outscored opponents by 22 runs
Pirates: 1-9, .248 batting average, 4.80 ERA, outscored by 20 runs
Mets Injuries: Drew Smith: 60-day IL (elbow), Dominic Smith: 10-day IL (foot), Brandon Nimmo: 10-day IL (neck), Yoenis Cespedes: 60-day IL (heels), Jed Lowrie: 60-day IL (knee).
Pirates Injuries: Jameson Taillon: 60-day IL (elbow), Edgar Santana: 60-day IL (elbow), Chad Kuhl: 60-day IL (elbow), Clay Holmes: 10-day IL (triceps), Rookie Davis: 60-day IL (finger/forearm), Nick Burdi: 60-day IL (biceps), Steven Brault: 10-day IL (shoulder), Gregory Polanco: 10-day IL (shoulder), Corey Dickerson: day-to-day (groin), Lonnie Chisenhall: 60-day IL (finger), Erik Gonzalez: 60-day IL (collarbone), Francisco Cervelli: 60-day IL (concussion).