This looks like a good time to play the Mets. Of course, the Mets might be saying the same thing about the Diamondbacks as the two prepare for a four-game series in New York.
June was not particularly kind to either -- the D-backs were 12-15, their first losing month of the season, and the Mets were 12-16, falling 13 games behind the division-leading Braves. At 33-45, New York has the third-worst record in the National League, ahead of only Miami and Milwaukee.
The Mets are 15-25 at Citi Field, the fewest home victories in the majors and the lowest home winning percentage in the NL, and their offense, with Marlon Byrd hitting cleanup, is one of the worst in the majors. Manager Terry Collins' team is 30th in batting average, 29th in slugging percentage, 28th in on-base percentage and 25th in runs. Because of injuries and ineffectiveness, the Mets started only four players Sunday who started the season opener.
Pitching matchups: Monday -- LHP Wade Miley (4-7, 4.55 ERA) vs. RHP Shaun Marcum (1-9, 5.08). Tuesday -- LHP Patrick Corbin (9-0, 2.22) vs. RHP Jeremy Hefner (2-6, 3.72). Wednesday -- RHP Randall Delgado (0-2, 4.05) vs. RHP Matt Harvey 7-2, 2.00). Thursday -- RHP Ian Kennedy (3-4, 5.36) vs. RHP Dillon Gee (6-7, 4.60).
Who's hot for the Diamondbacks: Miguel Montero hit .278 with two homers and 11 RBIs in June, his best month of the season. He had started 21 straight games before being given Sunday off. ... Patrick Corbin has given up five earned runs in his last 23 innings over three starts while going for his 10th victory. He held opponents to a .197 batting average in six June starts but won his last game June 2. ... Cody Ross is hitting .389 against left-handed pitchers this season.
Who's not hot for the Diamondbacks: Gerardo Parra has three hits in 24 at-bats in the first six games of the 10-game road trip. ... Ross is hitting .187 against right-handers pitchers this season. ... D-backs starting pitchers won two games in June and do not have a victory in their last 22 starts, dating to Miley's 10-3 victory in St. Louis on June 5.
Who's hot for the Mets: David Wright, hitting .304 with 12 homers, 41 RBIs and 14 stolen bases, has 14 hits in his last 40 at-bats. Wright, who has played in 77 of the Mets' 78 games, batted only twice before being removed in the Nationals' 13-2 rout Sunday to get a little rest. ... Matt Harvey is the first pitcher in Mets history to make two starts in which he gave up one run or fewer and three hits or fewer with no walks and at least 11 strikeouts. Those came against the Nationals over the weekend and against the White Sox. He averaged 11.1 strikeouts per nine innings in June. ... Hefner has given up three runs or fewer in his last seven starts, although he is only 2-1 in that stretch.
Who's not hot for the Mets: Catcher John Buck leads the Mets with 13 home runs, but he has only three hits in his last 33 at-bats, although one was a two-run homer Sunday. ... Valley native and former Arizona State star Ike Davis, who had five homers but was hitting .161 when he was optioned to the minors three weeks ago, is a candidate to return soon after No. 2 first baseman Lucas Duda was placed on the disabled list last week.
Notes, quotes, odds and ends: Corbin and Harvey are two of the top three candidates (along with Jordan Zimmermann) to start for the NL in the All-Star Game ... Wright and Goldschmidt are second and third in WAR (wins above replacement) in the NL this season behind the Brewers' Carlos Gomez. Wright has a 4.5 rating, Goldschmidt 4.2 ... Looking to the future and hurt by injuries to the rotation, the Mets recalled right-hander Ryan Wheeler in mid-June, although he was hit hard Sunday, giving up six hits and five runs. The Giants traded Wheeler, the sixth player taken in the 2009 draft, to the Mets for Carlos Beltran at the 2011 deadline, the only recent deadline addition that did not help the Giants to the World Series. ... The Mets have won six of their last 10. … Miguel Montero has a home run in three-at bats against Marcum. ... The Mets have used 10 leadoff hitters this season, the most recent being Eric Young Jr., who was acquired almost two weeks ago and has started every game since while hitting 319. ... The D-backs have won four of the last six between between the two in New York and are 22-17 overall against the Mets in the last six years.
