First Five Play For Royals And Mets

Royals vs. Mets, 1:40 ET

Saturday baseball has a lot to off us as we get to enjoy day games and some evening matchups. It is different than the dominance of College Basketball and College Football, where you end up spending the full day on the couch. With baseball, you probably aren't going out of your way to watch games or a specific matchup at this point in the season. Most of us tend to watch just our own team. But, I like Saturday and Sunday because more games are on national television and it does give a casual fan a chance to catch a team or two they might not be as familiar with. Today, we will put a play on a team most probably don't follow, the Royals, and a team everyone knows, the Mets. 

The Royals are a surprisingly good club to this point in the season. It helps that as a team, they are hitting .264, and have 17 home runs which are both higher and more than their opponent in this game. Coming into the season I didn't think there was much reason to be excited about the Royals, and by the end of the season there might not be, but right now, you have to give them some credit and tip your cap to their start. It isn't just the hitting that has been successful, the pitching staff is doing their job as well, combining for a 2.54 ERA and just a 1.18 WHIP. Opponents do have a fairly successful .230 batting average against them. However, if runs aren't coming around, and they are keeping walks down, there really is no reason to knock them. Today, they are sending out Alec Marsh to the hill in hopes of keeping this start rolling. Marsh has two starts under his belt and has allowed just four earned runs over 11.2 innings. He was stellar in his first performance against the Orioles and looked a little more vulnerable in the game against the White Sox. He has only faced a few Mets hitters in his career and collectively they are 0-for-3 with a walk. 

NEW YORK, NEW YORK: Pete Alonso on second base during the first inning of the game against the Chicago Cubs. (Justin Satloff/Getty Images)

The Mets are still not quite living up to expectations. Sure, the expectation is a lot lower this season than it was last season, but they were expected to be at least competitive this year. With their pitching staff, I thought it would be a challenge, but their hitting should at least win them some games. Early in this season, the hitting has been down and the pitching has been the anchor of the team. Collectively the Mets are not scoring enough or hitting enough. Sure, there are some decent performances from individuals, but nothing overly impressive. Their pitching staff has performed well together with a 3.47 ERA and a 1.39 WHIP. Today they have Sean Manaea taking the hill and he has been great for them in two starts. He has tossed 11 innings and allowed just four hits and one earned run. He's pitching brilliantly right now and it would be a big bonus if he can keep this going as long as possible. Royals hitters are just 10-for-41 against him lifetime but Salvador Perez has done a bit of damage. 

I like this game to be low scoring through five innings. The way both of these hurlers are tossing the ball is quite nice. If they can keep the momentum up for one more game, we should see a rather low score. I still am not convinced the Royals will keep this hitting up either. I would think eventually that will fall apart. I don't need it to for anything but today. I'll back the under through five. 

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