Struggling Mets turn to Sean Manaea to steady rotation vs. Tigers

The New York Mets had a rough weekend at home against Miami. They'll look to get their pitching staff straightened out during a three-game series at Detroit, which begins on Monday afternoon.

The Mets gave up 32 runs while dropping three of four games to the Marlins. They still hold a wild card spot but are losing ground to first-place Philadelphia in the National League East Division.

"It's a combination of a lot of different things, but it starts on the mound," manager Carlos Mendoza said. "Our starting rotation, we got some quality starts against the Phillies, and we didn't get many of them against (the Marlins). We're going to continue to try to put the best guys out there, but understanding that we've (only) got a few games here ahead of us. We need to find that consistency."

Left-hander Sean Manaea (1-2, 5.01 ERA) will start the series opener for the Mets. Manaea is undoubtedly happy to put August in his rear-view mirror after posting a 7.13 ERA in five outings.

He walked just four batters while striking out 31 in 24 innings during the month but also gave up 28 hits. His last outing was actually his best in August, as he held Philadelphia to two runs in 4 2/3 innings while posting eight strikeouts. The Mets eventually pulled out a 6-5 victory in that Tuesday showdown.

Manaea's season was delayed until mid-July due to oblique and elbow injuries. His lone victory this season came on July 23 when he held the Los Angeles Angels to one run in five innings.

He's 3-2 with a 3.35 ERA in seven career starts against Detroit.

The Tigers will counter with right-hander Charlie Morton (9-10, 5.25), who is 2-2 with a no-decision in five starts since being acquired from Baltimore at the trade deadline.

After he collected victories in quality outings against Minnesota and Houston, Morton allowed five runs and seven hits in five innings against the Athletics on Tuesday.

Morton was surprised that he gave up that many runs.

"I think my stuff should've allowed me to pitch a lot better than I did," he said. "You'd think I would've had a better outcome. I was throwing strikes, my stuff was good, I was getting swing and miss and usually when that happens, the outcome is OK."

Manager A.J. Hinch would like Morton to use his curveball more often.

"He's got good velocity, he's got movement and his changeup is really good," Hinch said. "But most of his game-planning comes and goes with the breaking ball. When he gets away from that, if you look at the damage that's been done, it's generally not been on that pitch."

Morton is quite familiar with the Mets. He's faced them 26 times in his career, going 7-7 with a 3.75 ERA.

Juan Soto has enjoyed great success against Morton with eight hits in 14 official at-bats -- including three home runs -- along with eight walks. On the other end of the spectrum, Morton has given Francisco Lindor fits (.160 average in 50 at-bats, 13 strikeouts).

The Tigers tightened their grip on first place in the American League Central Division over the weekend, taking two of three road games against second-place Kansas City.

--Field Level Media