The Mets and Cubs will continue their National League Championship Series rematch at Citi Field on Friday, with right-handers Jacob deGrom and Jason Hammel taking the hill.
deGrom will look to build off his most recent outing, on Saturday, in which he tossed eight shutout innings -- tying a career high -- en route to a no-decision against the Braves. The last time he faced the Cubs, in Game 3 of the NLCS, he earned the win, allowing two runs on four hits over seven innings while striking out seven.
Hammel will be making his first appearance at Citi Field since April 11, 2011, and hopes the Mets treat him better than they did in Game 4 of the NLCS, as he took the loss after allowing five runs in 1 1/3 innings at Wrigley Field. He has not fared much better against the Mets in the regular season, as he is 0-3 against them with a 4.91 ERA in five career starts. New York is one of two NL teams that he has yet to defeat, the other being the Giants.
Three things to know about this game
• First baseman James Loney was one of the Mets' best hitters in June, hitting .283 with three home runs and 10 RBIs. He'll try to carry that over into July against Hammel, whom he's hit pretty well in his career. In 41 at-bats against Hammel, Loney has 13 hits, three of them home runs.
• The Mets have the Major Leagues' worst batting average with runners in scoring position, at .204. This season, Hammel has held batters to a .147 average in those situations.
• New York has not scored a run in deGrom's last three starts. On average, deGrom has received just 2.87 runs of support through 13 starts.
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