Mets go for seventh straight victory as Rays visit

The New York Mets maintained the best record in the major leagues with a Thursday win over the Washington Nationals.

The Mets likely will find out on Friday whether the victory was a costly one.

New York will look to match its season high with a seventh straight win on Friday when the Tampa Bay Rays visit in the opener of a three-game interleague series.

Clay Holmes (7-3, 2.95 ERA) is slated to start for the Mets against fellow right-hander Taj Bradley (4-5, 4.58).

The Mets finished a three-game sweep of the visiting Nationals on Thursday, when ace Kodai Senga strained his right hamstring in the sixth inning of a 4-3 victory. The Rays were off on Thursday after falling to the host Boston Red Sox 4-3 in the decisive game of a three-game series on Wednesday.

Mets manager Carlos Mendoza said Senga, whose 1.47 ERA is the lowest in the majors, would be put on the injured list and undergo an MRI on Friday. Senga was working on a shutout when he got hurt racing to first base to field a high throw from Pete Alonso on CJ Abrams' one-out grounder in the sixth.

A successful and durable rotation has sparked the Mets' 45-24 start. New York starters have compiled a major-league-best 2.79 ERA thanks largely to the quintet of Senga, Holmes, David Peterson, Tylor Megill and Griffin Canning, who have all recorded 13 starts apiece.

Blake Tidwell and Paul Blackburn have made one start apiece while Huascar Brazoban made a pair of brief starts as an opener.

"Obviously a big blow," Mets left fielder Brandon Nimmo said of Senga's injury. "You're going to have guys go down. We've been very fortunate up to this point. It's minimal at this point, but we've been able to get through it. I just wish the best for him."

The Wednesday loss to the Red Sox continued an unusual stretch for the Rays, who have gone 15-6 since May 20 to improve to 36-32.

However, Tampa Bay, which went 5-0-1 in the six series before visiting Boston, has struggled to establish offensive consistency. The Rays have scored four runs or fewer 15 times in the past 25 games, a span in which they exceeded 10 runs five times.

Three players -- Junior Caminero, Brandon Lowe and Yandy Diaz -- have combined for 38 of the Rays' 71 homers. Caminero, Lowe, Diaz and Jonathan Aranda, the only Tampa Bay players with at least 200 plate appearances, all have an OPS of .700 or better. Just two other Rays with at least 100 plate appearances -- Josh Lowe and Jake Magnum -- have an OPS of at least .700.

"We didn't play good enough to win it," Rays manager Kevin Cash said of the series loss at Boston. "We've got to play better baseball, come up with some bigger hits."

Holmes earned a win on Saturday when he gave up one run over six innings as the Mets beat the host Colorado Rockies 8-1. He is 1-0 with a 0.93 ERA and eight saves in 19 career appearances against the Rays, all in relief.

Bradley didn't factor into the decision on Saturday after giving up seven runs over four-plus innings in the Rays' 11-10, 10-inning loss to the visiting Miami Marlins.

Bradley got a no-decision in his lone previous start against the Mets on May 18, 2023, when he gave up two runs over five innings in New York's 3-2 home win.

--Field Level Media