With the Mets winning Game 1 on a pair of comebacks and the Brewers pulling Freddy Peralta after just four innings, Milwaukee will turn to Frankie Montas to start Game 2 tonight. Probable pitchers are always subject to changes in the playoffs, and Aaron Civale – who might have started Game 2 himself – appeared in relief for the Brewers last night.

Montas will start opposite Sean Manaea of ​​the Mets, making this a rematch of Friday night’s regular season opener between these two teams. As Brian noted in the series preview, that start left Manaea under significant pressure and Mets manager Carlos Mendoza getting ejected by an umpire with an objectively bad strike zone.

As for Montas, he pitched four innings against the Mets in that start, striking out six, walking three and giving up two runs on two hits. Both runs scored on a home run by Mark Vientos, and that start was the only time Montas faced the Mets this year.

Overall, Montas had a mediocre 2024 season, as he pitched 150.2 innings with an ERA of 4.84 and an FIP of 4.71. His strikeout rate was good at 22.4 percent, his walk rate was a bit on the high side at 10.1 percent, and home runs could be an issue for him as he allowed 1.43 per nine innings.

The Mets’ lineup won’t change much from the lineup they used in Game 1 yesterday, but it will be interesting to see if Jesse Winker gets another start at DH against a right-handed pitcher or if J.D. Martinez gets the nod instead starts. While pitcher-to-batter splits aren’t always the best predictors of future results, Winker has had a lot of success against Game 1 starter Freddy Peralta in the past. Neither he nor Martinez have numbers against Montas that jump off the page.