Series Thread: Phila.Phillies @ NY Mets (8/26-28)

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• Series preview: Mets vs. Phillies



NEW YORK METS (64-63, third place/NL East) vs. PHILADELPHIA PHILLIES (59-68, fourth place/NL East)

Friday: RHP Bartolo Colon (11-7, 3.36) vs. LHP Adam Morgan (1-7, 6.21), 7:10 p.m. ET

Saturday: RHP Noah Syndergaard (11-7, 2.61) vs. RHP Jeremy Hellickson (10-7, 3.60), 7:10 p.m. ET

Sunday: RHP Robert Gsellman (1-0, 0.00) vs. RHP Vince Velasquez (8-6, 4.31), 1:10 p.m. ET

 

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• Morning Briefing: Now for some home cooking

New York -- They ain’t dead yet!

With a huge rubber-game win in St. Louis on Thursday, the New York Mets completed their 10-game road trip trailing the Cardinals by a surmountable 3½ games for the National League’s second wild-card spot.

The Mets (64-63) now return to Citi Field to host the Phillies, Marlins and Nationals. Bartolo Colon (11-7, 3.36 ERA) opposes Philadelphia left-hander Adam Morgan (1-7, 6.21) in Friday’s 7:10 p.m. ET opener.

Neil Walker is due to rejoin the Mets after a three-day paternity leave. Jay Bruce also should return to the lineup after sitting out Thursday’s game with right-calf tightness.

Steven Matz is expected to attempt to throw off a mound this weekend to determine whether he will be ready to return from the disabled list on Tuesday when he is eligible.

Terry Collins said he also needs to convene with Sandy Alderson to determine whether Jacob deGrom should proceed with Monday’s start on turn. Collins believes deGrom could use extra rest after consecutive subpar outings, although it’s not clear if the Mets have a capable alternative to handle Monday’s start against the Marlins considering Robert Gsellman and Seth Lugo already are in the rotation until Matz returns.

 

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The Mets lineup for Friday's 7:10 p.m. ET series opener against the Phillies at Citi Field.
Jay Bruce returns from calf tightness. Neil Walker is back from paternity leave.

Jose Reyes - 3B
Asdrubal Cabrera - SS
Yoenis Cespedes - LF
Neil Walker - 2B
Wilmer Flores - 1B
Jay Bruce - RF
Justin Ruggiano - CF
Travis d'Arnaud - C
Bartolo Colon - RHP

 

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•Mets win as they 'oughta' -- home runs and strong starts

•Flores, Cabrera, Colon lead Mets to 9-4 win over Phillies


NEW YORK -- Bartolo Colon and the New York Mets are beginning to play much better. Now they need to start gaining some ground in the standings.

Wilmer Flores launched a grand slam, Asdrubal Cabrera homered from both sides of the plate and even Colon had two helpful hits while pitching the third-place Mets to a 9-4 victory over the Philadelphia Phillies on Friday night.

Jose Reyes and Cabrera opened the Mets' half of the first inning with consecutive home runs, just the second time the franchise has accomplished that feat. But the defending NL champions (65-63) remained 3 1/2 games behind St. Louis in a crowded race for the league's second wild card.

 

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For the second time in club history, the Mets hit back-to-back home runs to start a game. José Reyes and Asdrubal Cabrera went deep. The only other instance was by Reyes and Ruben Gotay against the Reds in 2007. Amazingly, Gotay homered a few minutes before Reyes on Friday -- for the Long Island Ducks of the Atlantic League.

NEW YORK -- Turns out, Syndergaard is awfully fast on the track, too.

A horse named after hard-throwing New York Mets pitcher Noah Syndergaard won the $200,000 Funny Cide Stakes at Saratoga on Friday, blowing away the competition by eight lengths.

The team made mention of Syndergaard's racing success upstate in its game notes Friday and said the 2-year-old colt is an early favorite for next year's Kentucky Derby.

In a release provided by the New York Racing Association, winning trainer Todd Pletcher said, "Yeah, he came with the heater today."

The Mets said track announcer Larry Collmus exclaimed that Syndergaard "was throwing the hammer down."

Syndergaard the horse is owned by Eric Fein, a Mets fan from nearby Long Island, according to NYRA.

Syndergaard the pitcher -- nicknamed Thor -- has quickly blossomed into a horse on the mound for the defending National League champions. The 6-foot-6, 242-pound right-hander would like to meet his namesake, Mets spokesman Jay Horwitz said.

Officials are trying to set up a meeting sometime soon after the horse returns to Belmont Park, which is only a 12-mile drive from Citi Field.

 

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• Morning Briefing: Happy Thor's Day!

NEW YORK -- Are things actually looking up for the New York Mets?

With a 9-4 win against the Philadelphia Phillies on Friday, the Mets (65-63) moved two games over .500 for the first time since Aug. 9. They remained 3½ games behind the St. Louis Cardinals for the National League’s second wild-card spot.

Noah Syndergaard (11-7, 2.61 ERA) opposes right-hander Jeremy Hellickson (10-7, 3.60) on Saturday at 7:10 p.m. ET at Citi Field.

Justin Ruggiano departed Friday’s game with left shoulder discomfort and will be seen by a doctor on Saturday.

Mets manager Terry Collins said the team had no sense of when Justin Ruggiano would be able to return from his left shoulder injury, so on Saturday they had infielder T.J. Rivera take fly balls in the outfield to prepare for a potential role there. Collins said the Mets don't expect to see a left-handed starter for another week, which would give Rivera some time to prepare. Rivera has played eight career minor league games in the outfield, all in left field.

Mets rightfielder Jay Bruce went 0-for-4 with four strikeouts on Friday night, so on Saturday he was out of the starting lineup. Bruce is hitting .160 with two home runs in 81 at-bats since his acquisition from the Reds. "He's gotten off to a slow start," said Mets manager Terry Collins. "He knows it, we know it. It's all about battling through it. I told him to relax a little bit, get something good to hit and put a good swing on it.

Bring Michael Conforto back up RIGHT NOW!!!
Waiting until Sept. 1st is dumb!

 

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Here is the Mets lineup for Saturday's 7:10 p.m. ET game against the Phillies at Citi Field.

Jose Reyes – 3B
Asdrubal Cabrera – SS
Yoenis Cespedes – LF
Neil Walker – 2B
James Loney – 1B
Alejandro De Aza – CF
Curtis Granderson – RF
Rene Rivera – C
Noah Syndergaard – RHP

 

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Mets rout Phils 12-1....

There's more than a month to go in the regular season and the Mets have already broken their club record for home runs at Citi Field. Kelly Johnson hit the team's 86th, a pinch-hit grand slam in the seventh inning against the Phillies. The previous mark of 85 was set last season

• Cespedes, Syndergaard help Mets rout Phillies again, 12-1

Asdrubal Cabrera is valued at 0.9 Wins Above Replacement, but his recent production has been irreplaceable. Cabrera's third homer in two games gave the Mets a third-inning lead over the Phillies. The Mets are 57-48 when Cabrera starts this season, 8-15 when he doesn't. Cabrera's 16 home runs are his most in a season since he hit that many with the 2012 Indians.

• Could they be contenders? Mets look a little more like their old selves


Jose Reyes#7 is once again the Amazin's sparkplug like he was not too long ago....
Joe Kings FTW!!!

 

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• Morning Briefing: Surging Mets set to send out rotation novices



NEW YORK -- And now the New York Mets turn to a rookie to try to keep things rolling.

Robert Gsellman makes his first major league start as the Mets try to complete a weekend sweep of the Philadelphia Phillies on Sunday at 1:10 p.m. ET at Citi Field. Gsellman, who debuted with 3⅔ scoreless innings in relief of Jonathon Niese on Tuesday at Busch Stadium, opposes right-hander Vince Velasquez (8-6, 4.31 ERA).

Gsellman’s outing begins an interesting stretch of starting pitching for the Mets. Rafael Montero will fill in for skipped Jacob deGrom against theMiami Marlins on Monday, followed by Seth Lugo on Tuesday and potentially Steven Matz in his first start off the disabled list on Wednesday.

 

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Yoenis Cespedes (quadriceps) and Neil Walker (back) both are dealing with injuries and are out of the lineup for Sunday's series finale against the Phillies.

Add Asdrubal Cabrera to the mounting injuries for the Mets. Cabrera departed Sunday's game in the first inning after gingerly advancing to second base on a single by Kelly Johnson. Cabrera had collided at first base with Philadelphia's Tommy Joseph earlier in the inning, when Cabrera reached on an infield single.

 

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Here is the Mets lineup for Sunday's 1:10 p.m. ET series finale against the Phillies at Citi Field.
Yoenis Cespedes (quad) and Neil Walker (back) sit:

Jose Reyes - 3B/SS
Asdrubal Cabrera - SS
*(Wilmer Flores - 3B)
Kelly Johnson - 2B
Jay Bruce - RF
Curtis Granderson - LF
Alejandro De Aza - CF
James Loney - 1B
Travis d'Arnaud - C
Robert Gsellman - RH

*Flores came in to PR for Cabrera in the 1st....and to play 3B..moving Reyes over to SS.

 

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Asdrubal Cabrera has an issue with the same knee that sent him to the disabled list. He had been on the DL for three weeks with a strained patellar tendon in his left knee. Cabrera had been hitting .455 (15-for-33) since returning, including a first-inning infield single Sunday before departing.

 

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Another golden opportunity to gain ground goes by the wayside....

Ellis gets big hit in Phillies debut to key 5-1 win vs Mets

Cabrera joins Cespedes, Walker as wounded Mets



Wild Card watch...
Marlins & Cardinals lost.....Pirates won.

Giants are up 2 games for the #1 spot

Cards are currently the #2 wc team
Pirates are 0.5 game back
Marlins are 1.5 games back
Mets remain 2.5 back for the #2 wc spot (heading into a crucial 4 game series w/ Miami starting monday)