The game started out well for the Mets, as after Corey Oswalt hurled a scoreless top of the first, Amed Rosario gave the Mets the early lead in the bottom of the frame, singling home Jeff McNeil with an opposite field hit. Unfortunately, that was the highlight of the ballgame for the New York offense.

Oswalt did his part to keep the game on track in the final start of his rookie campaign, keeping the Fish off the board for the first three, but he ran into a patch of difficulty in the fourth. After allowing a pair of singles and a walk to load the bases with one out, Oswalt got the ground ball he needed from Magneuris Sierra, but unfortunately the speedy Marlins right fielder beat the return throw to first to allow the tying run to score. It became clear following that inning that Oswalt was done, and that was when the only real drama of the night unfolded.

It was already known Wright would be the first man off the bench tonight, and with Oswalt due up fifth in the bottom of the fourth inning, the stage was set. The Marlins however, delayed the moment, retiring No. 8 hitter Kevin Plawecki to end the frame and leave the captain in the on deck circle. Temporarily.

Paul Sewald entered for the Mets in the fifth and was unimpressive, surrendering two runs on three hits to the middle of Miami’s lineup, but all the crowd really cared about was the next half inning. Wright emerged from the dugout to a chorus of cheers, and the longtime face of the Mets’ franchise looked visibly nervous as he dug in. His at-bat was short lived, when he hit the first pitch he saw from José Ureña directly on the ground to third, but making an out was far from enough to wipe the smile off No. 5’s face.

After that, the rest of the night went downhill fast for the home team. Drew Gagnon entered for New York in the sixth, and while he only allowed one earned run in what  ultimately amounted to 1.2 innings of work, thanks to errors from Todd Frazier and Rosario, the Marlins were able to push five runs across against him, establishing an 8-1 lead that would be the eventual final score.

Tim Peterson pitched very well in the eighth and ninth innings to maybe provide a slimmer of a silver lining at the end, but it’s clear that everyone associated with this team began looking forward to tonight’s contest the minute Wright’s at-bat tonight concluded.

This evening, left hander Steven Matz will make his final start of 2018, but more importantly, Wright will take third base for the final start of his memorable Major League career, and it will be fascinating to see what kind of final moment he can give us.

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The Mets actually put a run on the board in the top of the first before their ace even took the mound. Amed Rosario led off the ballgame with a double and later scored on Jay Bruce hit, giving the road team the early 1-0 lead. After mowing the Nationals down 1-2-3 with a pair of strikeouts in the first, deGrom did run into a little bit of a speed bump in the second, however.

After uncharacteristically walking Anthony Rendon to begin the frame, deGrom allowed a single to Washington rookie sensation Juan Soto, placing men on the corners with no out. Ryan Zimmerman then lifted a fly ball to center field to score the tying run via a sac fly.

New York responded right away the next inning though, which was really nice to see. With one out, Michael Conforto and Bruce doubled consecutively to reestablish the Mets lead, but they were far from done in the frame. Dom Smith singled home Bruce with a third run, and after Rendon committed an error on a Todd Frazier ground ball, the inning was prolonged for Devin Mesoraco. The Mets catcher, playing in his first game in almost three weeks, pounded a double to plate Smith, and while Frazier was waved home, he was gunned down the end the inning, with the Mets up 4-1.

That would prove to be all deGrom would need as he simply took it to another level after that. The right-hander retired 15 of the next 17 Nationals batters, completing his seven-inning outing with eight strikeouts and just three hits allowed. At only 98 pitches, it was somewhat surprising New York didn’t send him back out for the eighth, instead summoning Seth Lugo for a consecutive day. While the righty did allow a pair of Washington baserunners he was ultimately able to navigate through the inning unscathed, and when the Mets failed to add an insurance run in the ninth, it was Robert Gsellman time.

The final inning was a little nerve-wrecking for the visitors dugout, when Trea Turner led off with a double, and Bryce Harper nearly got the home team within one on a long fly ball to the opposite field that ultimately fell a couple feet short of the fence and into the waiting glove of Conforto. The Mets were not out of the woods though, as Rendon came up next and promptly singled into center, scoring Turner and getting the tying run to the plate. Gsellman stepped up though, striking out Soto and getting Zimmerman to fly out to end the game.

The victory evened deGrom’s record on the season at 9-9 and lowered his Major League best ERA to 1.77. If the Cy Young race isn’t over, it honestly probably should be.

Up next New York will send Corey Oswalt to the bump opposite Tanner Roark as they look to take a thirrd consecutive contest from their rivals in the nation’s capital.

Syndergaard went seven scoreless innings, holding baseball’s best team to only three hits, and the visitors were able to take the series opener 8-0.

The Mets offensive attack got off to a fast start in the top of the first, as Michael Conforto and Jay Bruce rocketed back-to-back two out doubles against William Cuevas to hand Syndergaard a lead before he even took the mound; he never let go of it.

In the top of the it, after New York’s starter had retired the first six Boston hitters, the offense came alive again to extend the lead. Scorching hot Amed Rosario led off with an infield single that chased Cuevas from the game in favor of southpaw Robbie Scott, a move that did not pay dividends for Boston manager Alex Cora. Scott was able to get Jeff McNeil to fly out, but he then hit Conforto and allowed Bruce to launch a three-run homer to right to push the lead to 4-0. McNeil would add a homer of his own against Brian Johnson the next inning, and the way Syndergaard was cruising through the Red Sox lineup (even picking a baserunner off first base!) you got the impression this one might be over.

The Mets added some icing in the 8th inning when Austin Jackson and Rosario both launched long home runs over the green monster against struggling righty Tyler Thornburg, and at 8-0 the rout was officially on. Jerry Blevins and Tyler Bashlor tossed a scoreless inning each to complete the victory and get the Mets to within nine games of .500.

Today, New York will send Corey Oswalt to the bump in hopes of securing an exciting series victory against an incredibly good team.

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New York actually got off to a nice start in this one, as Steven Matz breezed through the first two innings with little difficulty, and Jay Bruce deposited Nola’s first offering of the home second into the bullpen to give the Amazins the early lead.

Philadelphia responded quickly in the next inning, however, as  two batters after Matz issued a leadoff walk to Jorge Alfaro, Carlos Santana crushed a long homer to left center to flip the game and give the Phillies a 2-1 edge. New York got it right back in the bottom of the frame though, when Jeff McNeil plated Brandon Nimmo with a double.

The 2-2 score held through the middle innings, and a high pitch count forced Matz to depart after only five innings. Eric Hanhold entered for the Mets in the sixth and was greeted rudely by pinch-hitter Odubel Herrera who led off with a double. Two batters later, former Met Asdrubal Cabrera gave the road team the lead with a run-scoring single, but the Mets again responded an inning later when first baseman Dom Smith crushed a game-tying opposite field long ball.

The Mets summoned Tyler Bashlor in the seventh and the hard-thrower tossed a 1-2-3 inning prior to Smith’s tying home run, but the righty was not as fortunate in the eighth, when Rhys Hoskins crushed a lead-off bomb that would prove to be the difference in a 4-3 victory for Philadelphia.

Up next, New York will send Noah Syndergaard to the bump in search of his 11th win, opposing Phillies’ righty Zach Eflin.

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For most of the evening, Wheeler found himself locked in a tight pitcher’s duel with Giants’ lefty Andrew Suarez as both hurlers left the opposing offense befuddled basically all night. Both men tossed seven innings, and of the 14 combined frames the starters pitched, eight were 1-2-3 innings.

The Mets’ first real threat came in the seventh when Jeff McNeil was hit by a pitch to start the inning and Austin Jackson followed with a single. After a Wilmer Flores fly out scooted McNeil to third, up stepped Jay Bruce with a golden opportunity to break the ice in this one and push the game’s first run across. Instead, the veteran bounced into an inning-ending 3-6-3 double play to send the momentum back to the home dugout. And San Francisco would take advantage.

Brandon Belt pulled the first pitch of the home seventh down the right field line for a lead-off double, and he advanced to third base on a groundout. Young Chris Shaw, playing in his first Major League game, then got just enough of a fly ball to center to put the Giants up 1-0.

The Mets briefly threatened in the eighth when Brandon Nimmo doubled with one out against San Francisco’s Tony Watson, but the veteran southpaw was able to get Jose Reyes and Michael Conforto out to end the threat. And in the bottom of that inning, the Giants were able to easily put the game out of reach.

Young catcher Aramis Garcia crushed his first big league bomb to lead off the inning and, before the frame was over, Robert Gsellman, Daniel Zamora, Drew Smith and Jacob Rhame would combine to allow six Giants to score and put the Mets down 7-0. New York went down 1-2-3 in the ninth against Ty Blach to end a disappointing series opener for New York.

Up next, the Mets will send Steven Matz to the bump against fellow left hander Derek Holland later this afternoon.

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New York imported Jamie Callahan, Gerson Bautista, Stephen Nogosek, Jacob Rhame, Eric Hanhold, Ryder Ryan and Drew Smith as they shipped out anything that wasn’t nailed down, but it is Smith who has, without question, been the one who has broken free from the pack when the Mets begin sizing up their 2019 relief corps.

In a season that has become nothing more than an audition for future roles, the Amazins’ have begun to thrust their young pitchers into more high leverage situations, and while most of the bullpen has struggled, Smith, whom the Mets brought back from Tampa Bay in exchange for Lucas Duda last year, has thrived.

In 13 major league appearances, the 24-year-old has pitched to a 1.84 ERA with a 1.16 WHIP, while walking only three men in 14.2 innings and surrendering only one home run. His strikeout rate has been a little lower than it was in the minors, but getting weak contact and quick outs has allowed him to keep his pitch count down, and he’s been able to contribute multiple innings twice.

Smith features an upper 90s fastball with a pretty good curve for a late-inning reliever and, factoring in his minor league closing experience and career-long impressive command, the Texas native could blossom into a set-up man for the Mets as early as next season.

Unfortunately for New York, the rest of their 2019 bullpen outlook is far cloudier; even a casual observer of the 2018 Mets would tell you their two best relievers have been converted starters Robert Gsellman and Seth Lugo, and while Gsellman figures to be a main cog again next season, there have been rumblings the club would like to move Lugo back into a starting role next spring, given the shakiness of the rotation. The most pressing issue New York’s front office will face in designing their bullpen in the offseason will be determining if they want to transition Gsellman into a closer or continue using him as a multi-inning middle of the game weapon. That seems to make the most sense, but if that is the case if stands to reason the team will need to add an external arm to finish games.

After Gsellman and Smith, there will be very few locks entering spring training, and a look at the rest of the arms the team landed last summer should tell you a lot of the reason why.

• The Mets really liked Callahan when they acquired him from Boston, but a shoulder injury has cost him all of 2018 (but somehow not his 40-man spot yet).
• Nogosek pitched very well in the Florida State League for St. Lucie this season but has struggled immensely in Double-A Binghamton. It’s unlikely he’ll be a factor at the major league level any time soon.
• Bautista has made five appearances for the big league club this year and been blasted for six runs in 4.1 innings, which amounts to a 12.46 ERA. It’s a tiny sample size, but not exactly a great first impression.
• Rhame has been a disaster, pitching to a 7.25 ERA in 22.1 innings, allowing the opposition to hit .298 against him and surrendering an eye-opening seven homers.
• Hanhold was very impressive in Binghamton this season, but similarly to Nogosek, a promotion to a higher level hasn’t been kind to the righty. In 12 games with Las Vegas, his ERA is over 6.
• Ryan has looked good at times this season, but like many of these arms, his ascension to a higher level, in his case Double-A, has had growing pains.

Another aspect to the Mets’ complicated bullpen construction is that arms they drafted and developed internally have failed to really take off in 2018.

• Tim Peterson was very impressive when he was first promoted, pitching to a 0.96 ERA in June, but since then he’s basically thrown batting practice, elevating his season numbers to a 7.54 ERA with a 1.46 WHIP in 22.2 innings.
• Tyler Bashlor was aggressively promoted directly from Double-A, and the results have shown he wasn’t quite ready to skip Las Vegas entirely. In 15 games for the Mets, he’s struck out only 13 hitters in 23.2 innings, and surrendered five long balls en route to an ERA just under 5.
• Paul Sewald has gotten the most extended look of any 2019 bullpen hopefuls, but he’s pitched to a 5.54 ERA in 38 contests, and he was never worse than his frankly embarrassing outing Sunday against Washington.
• Corey Oswalt has worked both out of the rotation and bullpen, but a 5.84 ERA with 12 homers allowed in just under 50 innings won’t play in either role.
• Triple-A starters Chris Flexen and P.J. Conlon have been horrid when given brief opportunities in the majors this season.

Smith’s emergence has largely gone under the radar amid the more pressing struggles of his teammates, but his success has arguably been one of the more encouraging developments for the Mets as this season heads to the home stretch. Everyone knows pitchers can be fickle and New York knew they wouldn’t hit on all of the arms they brought in at the trade deadline last year, but the hope was at least a few would work out.

So far, a few has turned into one.

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Vargas held the free-falling Washington Nationals scoreless over six impressive frames on Friday night, allowing only three hits and punching out a season high eight hitters as the Mets took the series opener from their D.C. rivals, 3-0.

After Vargas had retired the Nats’ in order in the top of the first, the Mets offense got off to a fast start against Gio Gonzalez in the bottom half of the frame. Amed Rosario led off with a single and then stole second base, and two batters later the speedy shortstop scored on a Wilmer Flores single. In the second, Vargas got himself into immediate trouble when Ryan Zimmerman and Juan Soto singled to start the inning, but the southpaw wiggled out of the jam by retiring the next three Washington hitters.

New York threatened in the home 2nd but couldn’t push a run across, and after an uneventful third inning, the game went to the fourth with the Mets still up 1-0. It was here where Vargas delivered arguably his most impressive frame of 2018, striking out Bryce Harper, Zimmerman and Soto consecutively. The Mets got a two-out rally started in the bottom of the inning when Jose Bautista was hit by a pitch and Kevin Plawecki doubled, but Vargas himself struck out to end the frame.

In the fifth and sixth innings, Vargas retired six of seven hitters to end his outing, but New York was unable to extend their lead against Gonzalez despite getting runners in almost every frame all night.

The Mets turned the game over to Seth Lugo in the seventh, and Amazins’ dynamic bullpen weapon retired all six hitters he faced over two frames, striking out three. In the bottom of the eighth, with Gonzalez out of the game, New York was finally able to push across some insurance runs to put the game out of reach. Cult hero Jeff McNeil led off with a walk and reached second on a stolen base. The next two New York hitters were retired by righty Koda Glover, but Nationals manager Davey Martinez then summoned southpaw Tim Collins into the ballgame to face fresh-from-the-DL Jay Bruce. The left-handed slugger promptly deposited a fly ball over the right center field fence to extend the Mets’ lead to 3-0, which felt like an insurmountable sum with the lifelessness of the Washington offense.

Robert Gsellman came on to record the final three outs of the game to close out his eighth save of the season, and the home team was officially back in the New York groove.

Tonight Zack Wheeler will take the ball for New York opposing Washington righty Tanner Roark.

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Matched up against Philadelphia ace Aaron Nola it was clear Syndergaard would have to be at his best, as Nola easily struck out the side in the road first to open the game. Trouble unfortunately found Syndergaard from the outset of his outing.

Cesar Hernandez led off the Philly first with a single and advanced to second base when Rhys Hoskins walked. Up stepped our old friend Asdrubal Cabrera, who sent a sinking line drive past a diving Jack Reinheimer into the left field corner to open the scoring and put two more Phillies in scoring position. Nick Williams then lined a shot up the middle to plate Hoskins and chase Cabrera to third, giving the home team a 2-0 lead. Syndergaard was fortunate to get a double play ground ball from Carlos Santana for his first two outs of the night, but Cabrera was able to walk home on the play to put the Phillies ahead 3-0.

That score would hold into the fourth, when the Mets used hits from Jeff McNeil and Austin Jackson to set up a sacrifice fly off the bat of Todd Frazier to get on the board. Philadelphia would immediately answer in their half of the frame though, as Roman Quinn led off with a triple and scored on a hit from Jorge Alfaro. Alfaro then stole second base which further exacerbated a main storyline in this game.

Syndergaard had shown flashes of getting better at limiting the running game earlier this season, but since returning from his brief bout with hand, foot and mouth disease, opposing teams have been running wild on him. Last night, Alfaro swiped the first two bases of his career, and slow footed runners like Santana and Maikel Franco were able to steal bases. All told, Philadelphia successfully stole five bases in 5.2 innings against Syndergaard, a trend that just can’t continue.

Following Syndergaard’s departure the Mets were able to get 1.1 scoreless innings from Daniel Zamora in his Major League debut, but on the other side of the field, Nola was showing no signs of letting New York get back in the game. Leaving after successfully registering a 1-2-3 seventh inning, Nola finished his outing with only one run and three hits allowed, while punching out 11 Mets batters.

In the eighth, New York was able to get one back against the Philly bullpen when the white hot Jackson scored McNeil with a two-out RBI hit. Unfortunately, that was as close as the Mets would come to making this a competitive contest.

Up next the Mets will send their Cy Young and MVP candidate Jacob deGrom to the mound this afternoon against Philadelphia’s Jake Arrieta.

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On Friday night, the 28-year-old turned in his latest masterpiece, holding the Marlins to just two runs across seven innings, while allowing only four hits and racking up eight punch outs. While his rotation mate Jacob deGrom’s inability to earn consistent victories (through no fault of his own) has generated quite a bit of press, Wheeler won his fifth straight start on Friday, and he’s showing no signs of slowing down.

The game started out uneventful, with both sides going quietly in the first two frames, but New York used some two-out magic in the third to open the scoring. Jeff McNeil singled to start the rally, and then scampered to 3rd on an opposite field single from Wilmer Flores. Aided by some slick body contorting from Flores to avoid the inning ending with a runner being hit by a batted ball, Michael Conforto then snuck a ground ball up the middle to score McNeil and give the Mets a 1-0 lead.

Wheeler, meanwhile, was cruising, zipping through the first four innings without allowing a hit. Just when your mind started drifting a few innings ahead of itself and fantasizing about a special kind of night, Martin Prado brought you back to earth with a leadoff single in the fifth, but Wheeler easily navigated his way through the mini threat.

In the sixth, the Mets were able to bust the game open, and knock Miami starter Jose Urena out of the game in the process. Conforto led off the inning with a walk, and two batters later reached third on a hit from Todd Frazier. Somewhat surprisingly productive pick-up Austin Jackson then plated Conforto with a run scoring single up the middle, a hit that sent Urena to the showers. On came Drew Rucinski out of the Marlins’ bullpen, and he was unable to put out the fire. His first pitch hit Kevin Plawecki to load the bases, and, two batters later, Amed Rosario drove in two with his third hit of the night, completing a three-run frame that put the Mets up 4-0.

Wheeler kept dominating into the seventh, where he struck out the first two batters, but then a brief blip put a damper on his night. Rafael Ortega singled to center, an at-bat that pushed Wheeler over the 100-pitch mark, and Miguel Rojas followed with a long two-run homer to break up the shutout attempt and end Wheeler’s 23-inning scoreless streak. The blast cut the New York lead in half, and while Wheeler did strike out J.T. Riddle to end the inning, he looked visibly irritated as he walked off the mound.

While the Marlins temporarily had climbed back into the game, that development was exceptionally short lived.

In the next half inning, the Mets were able to get those two runs right back when Todd Frazier and Jackson both singled and then scored on a Plawecki hit against Miami righty Javy Guerra.

Seth Lugo pitched a 1-2-3 eighth for New York before Jerry Blevins and Drew Smith combined to finish off the 6-2 victory in the ninth.

Tonight the Mets will look to win for the fourth time in five contests, when they send righty Corey Oswalt to the mound against Dan Straily.

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Friday night’s game against Atlanta represented the Mets’ latest chance to play spoiler in a division race that they themselves have long been out of, and despite yet another gem from their ace, New York continued to struggle to score runs for deGrom.

The contest went the way so many of deGrom’s 2018 starts have unfolded. After an uneventful first inning on both sides, deGrom quickly retired the first two Braves in the 2nd before one swing from Johan Camargo sent a bolt through the stadium. The Braves’ third baseman turned on a deGrom offering and deposited it off the facing of the upper deck in right field, giving the road team an early 1-0 advantage.

That score held into the third, where the Mets’ bats were able to answer. Amed Rosario led off the frame with a double down the right field line, and the young shortstop scored the tying run two batters later, when deGrom took matters into his own hands and grounded an RBI single right back up the middle.

Despite walking Freddie Freeman and allowing a single to Nick Markakis to start the fourth, deGrom quickly retired the next three to escape that threat and keep the game tied, but he wasn’t as fortunate an inning later. After striking out the first two in the fifth, Atlanta’s fabulous young duo of Ronald Acuna Jr. and Ozzie Albies both doubled, giving the Braves a lead they would ultimately never relinquish.

New York got runners via walks in both the sixth and seventh innings but neither was parlayed into a serious threat, while on the mound deGrom just kept hurling zeroes, retiring the final 10 Braves he faced following the Albies RBI double. The right hander’s night came to an end after eight, when the Mets pinch hit for him. After Anthony Swarzak hurled a 1-2-3 top of the ninth, New York needed to score in their final at-bat to extend the ballgame.

A.J. Minter entered for the Braves after successfully recording the save in the serious opener on Thursday, and while the Mets were able to generate a two-out runner when Camargo booted a Todd Frazier ground ball, Austin Jackson immediately followed with a game-ending ground ball right at Freeman at first base.

Almost incomprehensibly, while deGrom has now gone at least eight innings in five of his last nine starts, hasn’t allowed more than three runs in a game since his second start of the year, and continues to boast the best ERA in baseball; he hasn’t won since June 18.

The Mets will try to bounce back and deal their division rivals’ playoff aspirations at least a little bit of a blow behind Zack Wheeler tonight, making his first start since not being traded at the deadline.

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