Mets Series Preview: A quick road trip to visit the Pirates

May 16, 2014; Washington, DC, USA; New York Mets starting pitcher Jon Niese (49) throws during the second inning against the Washington Nationals at Nationals Park. Mandatory Credit: Brad Mills-USA TODAY Sports
Sunday, May 24
Jon Niese (3-4, 3.72 ERA) vs. Francisco Liriano (1-4, 4.15 ERA)
Niese is coming off his worst start of the season, going five innings against the Cardinals, while allowing eight earned runs to score off 11 hits. His ERA skyrocketed from 2.49 to 3.72 because of this one game.
In his career, Niese has faced the Pirates six times going 3-1 with a 4.41 ERA against them.
Liriano, much like Niese, has been struggling lately, garnering three straight losses. The lefty began the season strong with, at one point, a 1.95 ERA. However, back-to-back-to-back troubling starts have led that number to rise to 4.15.
He’ll look to turn his early season around as he faced the Mets for the second time in his career. In his first start, he went 5 1/3 innings, striking out nine Mets en route to a victory.