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Mets Begin Final Ten Games With Four Game Series Against Philadelphia

The Situation:

The New York Mets (80-72) are 152 games into the regular season. I’ll save you the math, that means the Mets have 10 games remaining in the regular season. If the playoffs started today, the Mets would sort of be in the playoffs as they are currently in a three-way tie for the first Wild Card spot with the Giants and Cardinals.

The Mets have seven games with the Phillies (69-83) and three with the Marlins (76-76) to close out their season. If the Mets want to be on the safe side, they have to win at least seven of those games. The Giants have four with the Padres, three with the Rockies, and three with the Dodgers. The Cardinals have three against the Cubs, four with the Reds, and three with the Pirates.

 

The Probable Starters:

Thursday: Seth Lugo (4-2) vs Adam Morgan (2-10) – 7:10 p.m.

Friday: Steven Matz (9-8) vs Jeremy Hellickson (12-9) – 7:10 p.m.

Saturday: Noah Syndergaard (13-9) vs Alec Asher (1-0) – 7:10 p.m.

Sunday: Robert Gsellman (2-2) vs Jake Thompson (3-5) – 1:10 p.m.

 

A Look Back:

The Mets went into their series with the Atlanta Braves as the hottest team in baseball winning 20 of their last 27 games. But for the second straight time this season, the Braves went into Citi Field and swept the Mets. And Wednesday’s game was probably one of the most heartbreaking ways any team can possibly lose a game.

 

What to Watch for Against the Phillies:

For the past month, Noah Syndergaard had been rolling and one of the most dominant pitchers in the game. But that came to a screeching halt when he was smacked around by the Braves. Syndergaard has to regular season starts left before the potential Wild Card game that he is in line to start. He doesn’t have much time to get back on the right track, but he has to figure it out in his next start.

Steven Matz will likely make his first start since August 14 when he pitched 7.1 innings and allowed just one hit against the Padres. An elbow injury has sidelined him since that game. If everything goes according to plan, Matz will also have two more starts before the regular season ends. If he and Syndergaard can be on top of their games going into the playoffs, there is hope.

Finally, the Mets offense has been struggling outside of Jose Reyes and Asdrubal Cabrera. The offense as a whole has only scored more than three runs once in their last seven games. Yoenis Cespedes showed some good signs last night that his bat is coming around after almost hitting a home run twice.

It will also be interesting to see what kind of role Jay Bruce will have down the stretch. It is well documented by now that his offensive production has been terrible since coming to New York from Cincinnati. Will he start? Will he be used as a pinch hitter? Will he not play at all? It will definitely be interesting to see how Terry Collins plays this one because it would be ideal for Bruce to get his confidence back before the postseason. The only problem is, you have to get there first.

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