Wild Card Leading Mets Set to Host Braves For Three Games

(AP Photo)

The New York Mets (80-69) open up a three-game series against the Atlanta Braves (58-91) at Citi Field tonight. The Braves hold the worst record in the National League entering the series.

The Probables:

Monday: Noah Syndergaard (13-8) vs Aaron Blair (0-6) – 7:10 p.m.

Tuesday: Robert Gsellman (2-1) vs Julio Teheran (5-10) – 7:10 p.m.

Wednesday: Bartolo Colon (14-7) vs John Gant (1-4) – 7:10 p.m.

The Hot Streak Continues:

The Mets entered the weekend series with the Minnesota Twins with sole possession of the second Wild Card spot. But after a three-game sweep of the worst team in baseball and a four-game series split between the Cardinals and Giants, the Mets have taken over as the Wild Card leaders.

Credit Friday night’s win to Bartolo Colon who has been the most consistent pitcher in the rotation this year. Saturday night was Curtis Granderson’s best game of the year. After the Mets tied the game at one in the eighth inning, Byron Buxton hit a go-ahead solo shot in the 11^th to give the Twins a 2-1 lead. But Granderson responded with a solo homer of his own in the bottom of the 11^th and another home run in the 12^th inning to win it for the Mets 3-2. And while most of us were watching football on Sunday, T.J. Rivera hit his second career home run as the Mets would go on to win 3-2.

Injuries Update:

On Friday, the Mets announced that Jacob deGrom will start on Sunday vs the Twins which would be his first start since 9/1 against the Marlins. But on Saturday, the Mets announced that deGrom will miss the remainder of the season due to built-up scar tissue pinching the ulnar nerve in his right elbow. DeGrom, who had Tommy John surgery in October 2010, will need another operation to remove the scar tissue.

It was thought for a while that Lucas Duda would miss the rest of the season. But after missing almost four months, Duda was back in the lineup yesterday where he went 0-2 with a strikeout. If Duda can quickly find his offensive rhythm in the final few games of the season, he would be a huge bat added to the middle of the lineup.

A Look Back:

On August 19, the New York Mets were dead in the water. They held a 60-62 record, had won just three of their previous ten games, they were riding a three game losing streak, were 5.5 games behind the St. Louis Cardinals for the second Wild Card spot, and 7.5 games behind the Los Angeles Dodgers for the first Wild Card spot. And not to mention all of the injuries.

But everything changed on August 20. Nothing major or notable happened that day other than the Mets beating the Giants. No one was crying on the field to give the Mets motivation like last year. They just happened to catch fire on that day and ever since that day, the Mets are 20-7 which is the best record in baseball in that span.

In those 27 games, they have leap-frogged the Marlins, Pirates, Cardinals, and Giants in the Wild Card standings. The Mets now have a one-game lead for the first Wild Card spot over the Giants, who hold a one-game lead over the Cardinals for the second Wild Card spot.