First pitch: Sunday, 8:00 p.m. ET
Line: N/A, Total: N/A

The Mets will be looking to show what they’ve got with a win over the Marlins on national television on Sunday.

The Mets are off to a solid start to the year and they need it, as they’re facing mostly NL East opponents over the next month or so. That means that New York has a chance to really make an impact in the standings, and the team will definitely be hoping to win this one. The Mets pretty much count on winning any time RHP Noah Syndergaard (0-0, 0.00 ERA, 7 K) is on the mound, and he is their guy on Sunday. Looking to outduel Syndergaard is RHP Edinson Volquez (0-0, 0.00 ERA, 6 K), who was excellent in his Marlins debut last week. Volquez pitched five innings of shutout baseball against the Nationals, racking up six strikeouts in the process. It’s not long ago that Volquez was a guy you could count on to be a number two or three starter and the Marlins are certainly hoping that he can be that again in 2017. It’s possible that his 5.37 ERA last year was nothing but an outlier after the way he performed from 2014 to 2016.

As mentioned earlier, Edinson Volquez looked great in his debut with Miami. He pitched five innings of shutout ball, and he also threw only 82 pitches in that game. That means he should be feeling good heading into Sunday’s game. It’s also worth noting that Volquez threw six innings of shutout ball in his only start against the Mets last season. He gave up only two hits in that game and will be hoping for a similar outing on Sunday. Offensively, two guys to keep an eye on in this game are 1B Justin Bour and 2B Derek Dietrich. Assuming they are in the lineup, the two of them could help get the Marlins going on Sunday. They are a combined 7-for-15 with two doubles against Syndergaard in their careers. OF Giancarlo Stanton will, however, need to find a way to figure out the righty. He is 0-for-8 with five strikeouts against Syndergaard and that is not acceptable for the slugger.

The Mets are sending Syndergaard to the mound on Sunday and he’ll be looking to shut the Marlins down on ESPN Sunday Night Baseball. Syndergaard was almost unhittable on Opening Day, throwing six shutout innings. He struck out eight batters in that game and also did not walk a single one. Look for him to do more of the same against a Miami team that he was 2-0 against in three starts last season. The righty had a 1.80 ERA in those games, and he also struck out the Marlins 29 times in those three contests. Offensively, both OF Jay Bruce and 3B Jose Reyes will be looking forward to this one. The two of them are a combined 16-for-28 with two doubles, a triple, a homer and two RBI against Volquez in their careers. Bruce also happens to look good this season, so his confidence will be sky-high for this one.