BATS STRUGGLE AGAINST PHILLIES’ STARTER EICKHOFF

Phillies’ starter Jerad Eickhoff flummoxed the Mets over his final six innings of the season, much as he has done throughout his young career. New York’s bats came out swinging early and often, and Eickhoff was able to get through the first inning on only seven pitches, including a strikeout of Jay Bruce. He commanded his 90-91 mph fastball well, but his real out pitch is still his stellar curveball, on which he generated several strikeouts in this outing.

Curtis Granderson was the team’s first baserunner with a leadoff walk in the fourth, and he was replaced by pinch-hitter Juan Lagares. He was promptly thrown out by catcher Cameron Rupp, just before Bruce singled for the Mets’ first hit of the day. New York finally broke through in the sixth, as Matt Reynolds doubled on a well-placed ground ball and was brought home by an Alejandro De Aza single up the middle. Eickhoff’s day was done after the sixth, having accumulated eight strikeouts while only allowing one walk and one run.

Reliever Colton Murray came in in the seventh, and struggled some to command his 94-95 mph fastball. Kelly Johnson was able to single and steal second base, and was eventually brought home on Kevin Plawecki’s line-drive double. Murray would get through the inning, while Michael Mariot and Joely Rodriguez shared a clean eighth. De facto closer Hector Neris closed out the Phillies’ season while silencing the Mets, who probably spent most of this game trying to get back to New York as soon as possible.

GABRIEL YNOA IS HIS SERVICEABLE SELF

Ynoa did exactly exactly what he was asked to do today, with a little bit of fastball command shakiness for good measure. He allowed five hits (all singles, including two to Maikel Franco), but only allowed one hit. He managed to work an even faster first inning than Eickhoff (only requiring five pitches), and suffered no damage in the second inning.

In the third, three singles sequenced in such a way as to score the first run of the game on a Franco RBI, but that would be all of the damage Ynoa would allow. He got his final five outs efficiently and mostly without incident. On the day, 80 percent of his batted balls were ground balls, and threw only 52 pitches. It’s interesting that he didn’t even get to finish the fifth inning, but Terry Collins instead decided to go to the bullpen.

BULLPEN STRUGGLES TO RECORD OUTS IN THE SEVENTH

Jerry Blevins came in and got out Odubel Herrera to end the fifth, and that was all that was to be asked of him on the evening. Josh Smoker worked around a hit to get through the sixth cleanly. Erik Goeddel struggled in general, and failed to record an out. He gave up a walk and two hits, allowing one of the runs to score while he was on the mound. Josh Edgin’s line on the box score looks clean, but he allowed the sacrifice fly that scored the third run of the inning. In the eighth inning, Jim Henderson closed out the game for Mets’ pitching, but allowed an RBI single to Aaron Altherr before all was said and done. This was the final run scored in the game, and the Mets fell 5-2.

UP NEXT

With the regular season completed, the Mets await the San Francisco Giants in the NL Wild Card Game on Wednesday, at Citi Field. New York was able to line up their schedule to have Noah Syndergaard available to start, which is very good. However, the Giants were able to clinch their spot on the last day of the season AND have worked their schedule in such a way as to have Madison Bumgarner available to start – which is bad. It’s also an even year, which basically makes this game meaningless, but the Mets will give it their best shot regardless.

Photo credit: Bill Streicher – USA Today Sports

The Phillies and Asher seemed able to shake that history early, as the Phillies got on the board first in the second inning. Maikel Franco led off with an infield single, and Ryan Howard followed with a double to put runners at second and third with none out. Cameron Rupp drove in Franco with a sacrifice fly to give the Phils a 1-0 lead, but Gsellman then induced a groundout and a strikeout of the pitcher Asher (after an intentional walk) to escape the threat.

Asher, meanwhile, didn’t allow a baserunner until Yoenis Cespedes singled with two outs in the fourth inning. That single opened up the floodgates though, as Curtis Granderson, Jay Bruce, and T.J. Rivera all followed with singles of their own to drive in two runs and give the Mets the lead before Lucas Duda struck out to end the rally. This would be the start of another stretch of dominance for Asher, as he put down seven straight Mets to keep the score at 2-1 until the sixth inning.

As for Gsellman, he settled in very nicely after the second inning, inducing groundball outs and strikeouts as we’ve seen him do over the past month. He worked around seven hits as well as some heavy traffic in the fifth inning (a line drive and bunt single with one out), but ultimately navigated his way through six inning without allowing another one. Gsellman finished with seven strikeouts, one walk (intentional), and seven hits of six innings of one run ball, exiting in line for his fourth win.

Phillies’ manager Pete Mackanin made the odd choice to send Asher back out for the seventh inning at 99 pitches. That decision immediately backfired, as Bruce lofted a leadoff home run into the first row of seats in left field to give the Mets a 3-1 lead. It was Bruce’s third home run in as many games, as he seems to finally be working his way out of a long, miserable slump.

Michael Mariot replaced Asher and retired the next three batters, but the Mets weren’t done adding insurance. Alejandro De Aza and Jose Reyes led off the eighth with singles, and an error on Philly right field Aaron Altherr allowed De Aza to advance to third. Asdrubal Cabrera popped out and Cespedes followed with a pop up of his own. Cespedes was lucky enough to hit his right at Howard, however, who had the ball blown away from him by the wind as he watched it drop directly on first base. Reyes was forced at second, but a run scored on one of the most bizarre and pathetic defensive plays you’ll ever see.

Joely Rodriguez replaced Mariot at this point and started his outing with six straight balls to Granderson (who walked) and Bruce. Bruce finally got a strike to hit and bounced a ball against the shift to score Cespedes from second and give the Mets a 5-1 lead, as well as his third RBI of the night. T.J. Rivera struck out to end the top of the eighth, but four runs was more than enough cushion.

Gsellman was relieved in the seventh by Fernando Salas, who continued his dominance with the Mets with a clean inning including two strikeouts. Addison Reed followed that up by striking out the side in the eighth, and Jeurys Familia finished the game with two more strikeouts around a walk. The Mets’ late inning troika faced ten batters, retired nine of them, and struck out seven of them. Those sort of numbers will give the Mets a huge advantage in the playoffs if they can get there.

The win lowers the Mets’ magic number to one, but the Cardinals defeated the Pirates to keep things somewhat in doubt. A win on either Saturday or Sunday or a Cardinal loss will secure the Mets’ place in the wild card game. Given that the Phillies are throwing a bullpen game tomorrow, the Mets’ prospects look superb heading into the final weekend.

OFFENSE PEPPERS GIBSON IN FIRST THREE INNINGS

Twins starter Kyle Gibson had a hard establishing his high 80s sinker in the strike zone early in this start. He allowed a lead-off walk to Alejandro De Aza, a single to Rivera and hit Yoenis Cespedes with a pitch to load the bases with no outs in the first. Michael Conforto singled to bring home two runners and Kelly Johnson also drew a walk. Gibson’s troubles could’ve continued but for a line-out unassisted double play handled by Brian Dozier. In his return from the DL, Duda grounded out softly to end the productive first inning.
After a clean second inning, Rivera demolished a hanging slider into the right field bleachers, followed immediately by a Cespedes double. Gibson calmed down over the next couple innings, preventing further damage until allowing three straight singles to begin the sixth. Buddy Bosheers relieved him at this point and got out of the inning, due in large part to an exceptional pick by James Beresford.
Taylor Rogers finished the game for the Twins, striking out two over two perfect innings. Dozier’s defense became a storyline throughout the game as he came up with several difficult balls, saving Twins’ pitchers from further damage. It was not the best offensive day for the Mets, but enough damage was done, and Terry Collins got to rest some of his big weapons. After leaving in the seventh with nausea and dizziness, Cespedes’ status is unclear.

GABRIEL YNOA IMPRESSES WITH UNEXPECTED START

Right-handed starter Ynoa made his MLB rotation debut in place of Rafael Montero, who has been moved to the bullpen, and performed better than anyone expected. Aside from some turmoil in the second inning (a walk and two singles resulted in a JR Murphy sacrifice fly RBI), Ynoa looked confident and dominant against the Minnesota lineup. He worked effectively off of his mid 90s sinker and was able to locate his slider to both sides of the plate.
Ynoa worked quickly in the first inning, retiring all three batters faced. In the second, he worked through a bases-loaded, one-out jam and earned two strikeouts. He struck out three batters in the third inning and, after only 76 pitches, was pulled with two outs in the fifth. It seemed a bit disappointing to see a player performing so well pulled so early during his first MLB start, but with the tying run at the plate, the times through the order penalty in effect and in such a consequential moment in the Wild Card race, it was a completely reasonable move.
The bullpen’s immediate struggles threatened to make that reasonable decision a post-game press conference nightmare for Terry Collins, but they managed to hold on.

BULLPEN HOLDS EARLY LEAD, SHUTS DOOR DESPITE SHAKINESS

Josh Edgin relieved Ynoa, but allowed the only batter he faced to reach base via single and he was pulled for Erik Goeddel. Goeddel then struggled to establish his rising fastball above the zone, resulting in two wild pitches and a walk, but still managed to strike out three Twins over his clean 1.1 innings.
Josh Smoker entered in the seventh, along with Brandon Nimmo in place of a nauseous Cespedes. Smoker looked good, striking out Kurt Suzuki and Logan Schafer without allowing a hit. Fernando Salas’ eighth inning appearance was far shakier, as he left too much of his fastball over the plate and got clobbered with three straight line drives. Kennys Vargas’ was a bomb that cut the lead to one and, after two outs, Salas was pulled for Jerry Blevins.
Blevins closed out the game with a scoreless 1.1 innings, including a two-out strikeout of Brian Dozier in the ninth, for his second save of the season. Given Terry Collins’ interest in resting his top relievers yesterday, there’s not a much better performance the team could have hoped for in a tight game with playoff implications.

UP NEXT

On Monday, the Braves head to Flushing to begin another three-game series against the Mets. Noah Syndergaard continues his Cy Young-deserving campaign against Aaron Blair, who’s had a rough rookie season with Atlanta. At nine games behind the Nationals, the Mets are effectively eliminated from the division race, but currently hold a one-game lead over the Giants in the NL Wild Card race. Cespedes’ status after his early exit from yesterday’s game is something to watch. Game time is 7:10 p.m.

Photo credit: Anthony Gruppuso – USA Today Sports

CESPEDES TOTALS FIVE RBI, CABRERA COLLECTS THREE HITS

Braves’ starter Williams Perez had rough time during his short start. He relied heavily on hitting the corners with his low 90s sinker, but often got too much of the plate and Mets’ hitters took advantage. After Asdrubal Cabrera hit a first inning triple on just such a pitch, Yoenis Cespedes hit a hard groundball to plate the game’s first run. Perez was more effective during the second inning, effectively working down in the zone.

Things fell apart for the righty in the third, as Lugo drew a walk and three straight batters hit low, glove side sinkers for hits. Jose Reyes and Cabrera loaded the bases with singles, and Cespedes demolished the 1-0 pitch for a grand slam, and his 30th home run of the season. Perez would not make it out of the inning, as he was pulled with a triceps injury. In total, Perez allowed five runs, four hits, a walk and a home run during his 2.2 innings.

Reliever Joel De La Cruz fared not much better in his 1.1 innings. He allowed a solo home run to James Loney on a hanging changeup in the fourth and failed to earn an out in the fifth. After allowing a single to Cabrera (his third hit of the day) and a walk to Cespedes, De La Cruz was replaced by former first round pick Jed Bradley. Bradley had early troubles with control, and his high 80s fastball was hit hard out of the gate. Kelly Johnson and Alejandro De Aza scored each of the two inherited runners and Loney hit a double to add an earned run to Bradley’s line. Lugo earned his first MLB RBI with a sacrifice fly, bringing the Mets’ total to 10 runs.

Mets bats were largely quiet for the rest of the game, as Bradley settled down in the sixth and seven innings and retired all six of the batters he faced. Brandon Cunniff shut down the Mets in the eighth and ninth innings, an outing most notable for the MLB debut of top Mets’ prospect Gavin Cecchini (he struck out swinging).

SETH LUGO SHUTS DOWN BRAVES OVER SEVEN INNINGS

Over his seven strong innings, Lugo displayed occasional problems with command, but worked through those issues to limit the Braves to two runs over seven innings. His fastball had life and regularly hit 95 mph (even hitting 96 mph as late as the sixth inning), but struggled with control of the pitch in the first and fourth innings. Some stellar defensive plays – including two well-fielded double plays involving Johnson at second base – helped Lugo out of jams.

Lugo’s curveball was as stellar as ever, and in total he struck out five while only allowing one walk. The first of the two runs allowed came on a Freddie Freeman groundball single and the second on a pinch-hit home run by Brandon Snyder. Lugo’s fifth Major League start provided further evidence that he belongs in the Mets’ long-term rotation plans.

BULLPEN STRUGGLES THROUGH JAMS TO END GAME

Sean Gilmartin entered the game in the eighth and promptly gave up back-to-back ground ball singles to Jace Peterson and Ender Inciarte. However, a popup by Garcia and a double play induced by pinch-hitter Blake Lalli got him out of the inning unscathed.

Logan Verrett entered to close out the ballgame in the ninth, but immediately gave up a double to Matt Kemp, who scored on a Markakis ground out. Problems persisted as former Met Anthony Recker walked on five pitches and Daniel Castro and Gordon Beckham each singled. Unable to command his fastball, Verrett was pulled with the bases loaded and one out. However, the Mets still had an insurmountable seven run lead, and Josh Edgin was able to generate the two outs necessary to end the game.

UP NEXT

On Monday, the Mets head to Washington to begin a three-game series with the Nationals. Embattled righty Rafael Montero remains in the rotation and makes the start for New York, while the Nationals have yet to announce who will pitch in place of the re-injured Stephen Strasburg. Potential replacements likely include hard throwing prospects Lucas Giolito and Reynaldo Lopez. The Mets are nine games behind the Nationals in the division, but now hold a half-game lead over St Louis for the second NL Wild Card spot.

Photo credit: Shanna Lockwood – USA Today Sports

To keep the good times rolling, the Mets would have to crack Julio Teheran, who entered the game with 24 consecutive scoreless innings against them. Opposing him was Robert Gsellman, who has utilized his every-pitch-but-the-kitchen-sink arsenal to post a 2.87 ERA in his first 15.2 innings of major league action. His low strikeout rate, elevated walk rate and low HR/FB rate portend a rising ERA in the future, but for now the Mets need him to hold down a spot until other starters can hopefully get healthy.

In the first, the Mets finally seemed ready to break Teheran’s scoreless inning streak. With one out, Asdrubal Cabrera doubled and Yoenis Cespedes and Curtis Granderson followed with an infield single and a walk. That brought Wilmer Flores to the plate with the bases loaded and no outs. Unfortunately, Teheran is not a lefty and Flores grounded into an inning-ending double play. The Mets wouldn’t record another hit until the sixth inning, putting only one baserunner on in the interim (another walk to Granderson).

Gsellman, meanwhile, flashed some nastier pitches than he’s displayed thus far in the major leagues, but ultimately put up a sub-par performance. In the bottom of the second, Matt Kemp lined a solo home run over the left center field wall to put the Braves up 1-0. Gsellman bounced back and posted two scoreless innings, but the Braves got back on Gsellman in the fifth.

Dansby Swanson (who was on base four times in this game) led off with a single, then was sacrificed to second by Teheran. Ender Inciarte grounded out, but the next four Braves (Adonis Garcia, Freddie Freeman, Matt Kemp and Nick Markakis) recorded three hits and a walk, building a 4-0 lead for the Braves before Gsellman finally struck out Tyler Flowers to end the inning as well as his night. Gsellman finished with five innings pitched, allowing seven hits, walking two and striking out six, leaving the game in a 4-0 hole.

At this point, the Mets’ began working some of their late season magic. Granderson, revived after being a well-below average player for most of the season, launched a two-run homer in the top of the sixth, ending Teheran’s scoreless streak against the Mets at 29 innings and, more importantly, cutting the deficit to 4-2. Jim Henderson entered for the bottom of the sixth and didn’t record an out, but Josh Smoker came in and cleaned the mess, striking out A.J. Pierzynski and inducing a double-play ball to keep the game in reach.

The seventh inning was quiet on both sides, with Hansel Robles working around a couple of walks to keep the Braves off the board. Then the Braves fell apart in the eighth. Alejandro De Aza walked, Jose Reyes reached on an error and Cabrera walked to load the bases with no outs for Cespedes. Cespedes lofted a sacrifice fly to right field in front of an RBI single from Granderson that tied the game and put runners on the corners with one out. Kelly Johnson put the Mets ahead with another clutch hit, this one a double, and Michael Conforto drove in another when he was hit by a pitch. By the time De Aza struck out to end the inning, the Mets had batted around and turned a 4-2 deficit into a 6-4 lead.

Addison Reed entered for the eighth and, with the help of two stellar defensive plays from Eric Campbell at first base (who saw that coming?), preserved the Mets’ two-run lead for Jeurys Familia. Familia had to work around a really impressive bit of hitting from Adonis Garcia, who one-handed a ball 380 feet to left field for a leadoff double, but he was up to the task, inducing a ground out from Matt Kemp and striking out Freddie Freeman and Tyler Flowers to cap cap the win.

The Mets have now won six straight games and 15 of their last 19 to storm their way back into a playoff spot. With both the Cardinals and Giants winning, the Mets remain half a game back of the Giants for the first wild card and half a game ahead of the Cardinals for the second. Last night was certainly an excellent way to kick of the final series for the team at Turner Field, which has long been a place of nightmares for the Mets. Bartolo Colon squares off against former Met prospect John Gant as the Mets look to keep the wins coming on Saturday.

Photo credit: Jason Getz – USA Today Sports

Nothing prepared me for watching Reds’ right fielder Scott Schebler get thrown out stealing second base in the second inning because he forgot to slide. Jose Reyes scored on a short wild pitch in the third as Reds’ ace Anthony DiScalfani didn’t cover home. By the bottom of the third inning, Keith Hernandez said it’s time for the Reds to start sending players home for the day. A few batters later, Cincinnati leadoff hitter Jose Peraza tried to steal home after Noah Syndergaard picked off Eugenio Suarez. Asdrubal Cabrera read the play and threw him out.

Baserunning mistakes bailed Syndergaard out on one of his worst starts of the season. The Mets ace walked a season-high four batters and could only get through five innings, allowing six hits along with the walks. But the Reds kept running their way out of opportunities. Base stealers had been 45-51 against Syndergaard but the Reds went 0-3 with two incredibly stupid plays. Bad teams don’t just lack talent; they also make dumb mistakes like forgetting to slide that cause them to play below their talent level.

It was a bizarro Syndergaard outing, but the Mets’ offense did exactly what we would expect them to do. Reyes drove the first pitch out of the ballpark. Curtis Granderson continued his hot streak with a deep home run to center, giving the Mets a 3-0 lead in the sixth. Wilmer Flores came in for Kelly Johnson to pinch hit against a left hander and delivered a two-run homer to make it 5-0 in the eighth. But the Mets started 0-for-9 with runners in scoring position and left 10 men on base.

It looked like the Mets were going to roll to another sweep of Cincinnati when Gabriel Ynoa took the mound in the top of the eighth. Three batters later, Ynoa left the mound and Addison Reed had to come in with the bases loaded and no outs. Reed could only get two of the first three hitters out. That meant he had to face Peraza, who is hitting over .400 since the All Star break. Peraza drove a pitch off the wall in left center, just missing a game-tying home run. Reed struck out Suarez to end the threat. Yoenis Cespedes tacked on an insurance run in the ninth to give the Mets their only hit with runners in scoring position, and Jeurys Familia closed the door.

Terry Collins’ lineup juggling paid off again yesterday. Granderson started in right field and went 2-5 with a homer. Alejandro De Aza got a start at center and reached base three times in five appearances. James Loney went 2-for-3 before being pinch hit for in the ninth to avoid a lefty-lefty matchup. Collins showed he is comfortable using Flores at first and T.J. Rivera at second to close out a game, which may mean less Loney down the stretch.

Notes:

The Mets have won 14 straight games against the Reds. The franchise record for most wins against an opponent is 15 over the Pirates in 1986-87.

Jose Reyes became the first player this season with a home run and a steal in back to back games.

What’s Next?

The Mets finally get a day off after playing 16 straight days (and 29 of their last 30). Then it’s their last series in Turner Field before the Braves move to their taxpayer-funded park in the suburbs.

Photo credit: David Kohl – USA Today Sports

Playing in front of a sparse crowd at Great American Ball Park, New York (73-66) remained one game behind in the NL Wild Card race following the victory, their 13th straight against the Reds dating back to 2014.

Cincinnati has allowed 225 long balls, the most in the majors by a wide margin. None was bigger on Tuesday than the two-run bomb to dead center field off the bat of Yoenis Cespedes.

Asdrubal Cabrera legged out a one-out infield single in the seventh against reliever Michael Lorenzen, reaching just in time following an excellent diving stop by shortstop Zack Cozart on the first-base side of the bag.

Cespedes then crushed a 2-2 slider for his 28th of the year, giving the Mets a 4-3 lead.

The Cuban slugger also showed off his cannon-like arm in the eighth, bare-handing a Brandon Phillips liner off of the wall in left and gunning him down on the fly trying to stretch what initially appeared to be an easy double.

“When you’re a star, that’s what they do,” manager Terry Collins said. “They come through when you need them. That’s why they get paid.”

Curtis Granderson (4 HRs and 9 RBIs over his last seven games) started the scoring with a two-out solo homer to right-center field in the second inning against Cincinnati left-hander Brandon Finnegan, the outfielder’s 24th of the year.

Jose Reyes extended the advantage to 2-0 leading off the third, driving a 400-foot shot just inside the left field foul pole for his fifth home run. It was the 29th long ball surrendered by Finnegan this season, most in the National League.

All-Star Adam Duvall knotted the score at 2-all in the bottom of the frame with his 30th home run, lining a two-run opposite field shot off of the top of the wall in right-center against starter Rafael Montero. The runs were the first allowed by Montero across his two spot starts in place of the injured Jacob deGrom, despite walking nine in 7.2 innings up to that point.

Hernan Iribarren led off the bottom of the fifth with a pinch-hit triple, his second pinch-hit three-bagger in as many days. After a ground out and a walk, Montero was lifted for Josh Edgin, recalled earlier in the day from Triple-A, with runners on the corners.

Joey Votto lined a sacrifice fly to right, scoring Iribarren and giving the Reds a 3-2 lead.

Montero, once considered a key piece in the team’s future rotation plans but whose stock has fallen significantly, could end up playing an important role in whether or not the Mets play in the postseason; especially if the ailing deGrom is unable to return soon.

The 25-year-old righty was charged with three runs on three hits in 4.1 innings, walking and striking out four apiece.

“He’s got to stop walking guys,” Collins said. “That puts him in trouble.”

The Mets bullpen continued its recent hot streak as a combination of Edgin, Gabriel Ynoa, Josh Smoker, Fernando Salas, Addison Reed and Jeurys Familia allowed just two hits and no walks in relief of Montero. Familia notched his 46th save in 49 opportunities, navigating around a Reyes error in the ninth.

New York wasted an opportunity in the sixth. Jay Bruce singled to left to lead off the inning against Lorenzen, a routine ground ball misplayed by Duvall in left field which allowed Bruce to advance to second. After Travis d’Arnaud struck out looking, Granderson was hit by a pitch.

Pinch-hitter Kelly Johnson grounded into a fielder’s choice, moving Bruce to third and setting up runners on the corners with two outs. Michael Conforto, also pinch-hitting, was then frozen by a Lorenzen curveball to end the threat.

Alejandro De Aza added an insurance run in the eighth, clubbing a pinch-hit solo home run off of reliever Blake Wood to give the Mets a 5-3 advantage.

CROWDED CLUBHOUSE

The Las Vegas 51s, New York’s Triple-A affiliate, played their season finale on Labor Day. The Mets beefed up their bench and bullpen before Tuesday night’s game, taking advantage of September’s expanded roster limits and recalling several players from Vegas. Infielders Eric Campbell and T.J. Rivera rejoined the big club, along with outfielder Brandon Nimmo. Reliever Erik Goeddel is also back in the majors.

In addition to these players with previous big league experience, highly-touted infield prospect Gavin Cecchini was promoted for the first time.

“It’s something that I dreamed of my whole life,” Cecchini said before the game. “It’s everything that I imagined.”

The Bronx-born Rivera edged Nimmo by just one point for the Pacific Coast League batting title on the season’s final day, barely taking the crown with a .353 average. Rivera is the third player in the Mets system to win a batting title this year, joining Phillip Evans (.335, Double-A Binghamton, Eastern League) and Tomas Nido (.320, Single-A Advanced St. Lucie, Florida State League).

CHECKING UP ON THE CAPTAIN

According to Jon Heyman of Today’s Knuckleball, David Wright will be leaving the team this week to see his surgeon in Los Angeles. The seven-time All-Star, recovering from neck surgery, is scheduled to see specialist Robert Watkins for a routine checkup.

Per Heyman, Wright hopes to resume light baseball activities or at a minimum receive a tentative date when he can begin. The 33-year-old was batting .226 with 7 home runs and 14 RBIs before being placed on the disabled list. Wright last appeared in a game on May 27.

LOOKING AHEAD

RHP Noah Syndergaard (12-8, 2.56 ERA, 2.34 FIP, 4.7 WARP) toes the rubber in the series finale on Wednesday afternoon. The 24-year-old is 2-1 with a 1.23 ERA over his last three starts.

He’ll be opposed by Cincinnati’s most effective starter, RHP Anthony DeSclafani (8-2, 2.93 ERA, 3.74 FIP, 2.1 WARP). The New Jersey native has been dominant in his last two outings, which included a complete game shutout in Arizona on Aug. 27.

Photo credit: David Kohl – USA Today Sports

The split-squad road team pulled off an improbably win after an all-nighter and took the first game of the series from the Reds 5-0.

The good:

The Mets weren’t supposed to win this game. It was the day game after a night game, hungover on celebratory champagne with your starters rehabbing strained hamstrings (two of these are true, but they all sound right). And yet here they are, a game out of the second Wild Card spot having won six of their last eight games and 12 of their last 16.

On paper, the lineup was questionable at best and the team was running on little-to-no sleep: the team plane had arrived at about 2:30 a.m. and Matt Reynolds stumbled into the hotel around 6 a.m. But the National League Wild Card doesn’t care about things like eight hours a night and the Mets made it work.

Reynolds, just recalled from Las Vegas as the 51s’ season comes to a close, led off the scoring with a solo shot to right in the top of the third. Kelly Johnson copied his MO in the top of the fifth and put the Mets up 2-0. The seventh inning was more of a group effort as Travis d’Arnaud walked, James Loney singled and Reynolds singled in the third run of the game. Asdrubal Cabrera singled in Loney and Alejandro De Aza’s sacrifice fly drove in the fifth and final run of the day.

And while the bats feasted on the less-than-impressive Cincinnati bullpen, Bartolo Colon, ageless wonder that he is, performed admirably as always (if you had Colon being the most stable part of the Mets’ rotation before the season started, start playing the lottery). The 43-year-old hero went six innings, giving up just five hits and one walk while striking out two Reds.

The bullpen similarly did their job as Hansel Robles got through a scoreless inning (he gave up a hit, but zeros on the board for Robles is a miracle these days), Jerry Blevins got through 0.2 innings with two hits and Fernando Salas, fill-in closer, closed the game with four outs.

The bad:

David Wright once said Daniel Murphy thought he was invisible on the basepaths, but that might be a symptom of the Mets’ second baseman role in general. Wilmer Flores, fast by literally nobody’s standards, was thrown out once at second base and once at third trying to stretch extra-base hits. Thankfully his TOOTBLANs didn’t end up affecting the game, but someone should probably sit him down and walk him through baserunning basics.

The ugly:

Listen, the Mets won with a lineup that wouldn’t have gotten past the commissioner’s office during spring training. Stop complaining for a day.

Photo credit: David Kohl – USA Today Sports

The Mets’ veteran manager seems to be reacting the way that novice gamblers react: treating bad information like good information. If a hitter gets hot, they keep playing. If someone has “success” against a pitcher, they get in. That’s how Granderson got to hit cleanup yesterday. He hit .300/.333/.500 in 21 prior plate appearances vs. Nationals’ starter Tanner Roark. That’s hardly enough plate appearances to make a well informed decision, but it’s the kind of bet that old-school managers make.

Collins’ bets paid off all game long. In the bottom of the third, the Mets got runners on second and third with Cespedes up. Roark threw two balls out of the zone before Dusty Baker put him on intentionally. Wouldn’t you rather face Granderson, who is hitting .116/.231/.151 with runners in scoring position this season? If you throw hanging sliders like Roark did, it may not matter. Granderson singled through the shift to score two runs, giving the Mets a lead they would never surrender.

Robert Gsellman did his best to keep the ball low and give the Mets infield a chance to get outs. It wasn’t always pretty, but he kept the Nationals to one run through five innings. In the top of the sixth, Gsellman gave up a leadoff double when a curveball caught too much of the plate, then walked Wilson Ramos after getting up in the count 0-2. Collins bet his young starter could escape another jam, and once again his bet paid off with two weak grounders and a clutch strikeout.

James Loney appears to be one of the few constants in the Mets lineup, no matter how cold his bat is. Collins finally demoted him to eighth in the batting order. In the bottom of the sixth, Collins’ bet on Loney as a major leaguer paid off with an RBI double down the line. Loney now has as many extra base hits in September as he did in August: one.

With a 3-1 lead in the top of the seventh, Collins continued to roll the dice against the top of the Nationals’ batting order. Jim Henderson started the inning despite his struggles since returning from the disabled list. Trea Turner just missed a home run, then Jayson Werth singled to bring up Daniel Murphy as the tying run. Here comes Josh Smoker – last seen serving up a big home run to Christian Yelich. Murphy smoked a line drive to short center field. Michael Conforto broke in on the ball and sold out to make a diving catch. Harper chased a slider to end the threat. Addison Reed and Jeurys Familia each threw clean innings to end the game.

What’s Next?

Sunday Night baseball on ESPN. Max Scherzer is pushed back a day. The Mets pulled to within a game of the Cardinals for the second wild card spot.

Photo credit: USA Today Sports

Thor might be an elite pitcher, but he has a major Achilles’ heel – he can’t hold baserunners, at all. That problem reared its ugly head in the first inning, as Trea Turner stole two bases after a bloop leadoff single to put a runner at third with no outs. Jayson Werth lined out to short and Daniel Murphy walked before Bryce Harper drove in Turner with a sacrifice fly to give the Nationals a quick 1-0 lead.

Syndergaard calmed down after that, inducing a ground out from Anthony Rendon as the start of an eight-batter string of Nationals set down.That streak would have been useful if the Mets had been able to muster any offense against starter A.J. Cole, the owner of a 4.97 ERA and a 5.75 FIP. Asdrubal Cabrera’s one-out single in the first inning was the only baserunner the Mets managed over the first three innings.

In the fourth, Harper and the stolen base problem again got the better of Syndergaard. Harper recorded a one out double, then stole third after a Rendon fly out. Wilson Ramos then drove in Harper with a single, stretching the Nationals lead to 2-0. Ramos’s single would be the last hit Syndergaard allowed, but the Mets seemed determined to waste yet another strong pitching performance.

Thankfully, another wounded Met stepped up to the plate in Asdrubal Cabrera, who launched a leadoff home run in the bottom of the fourth to cut the lead to 2-1. Jay Bruce and Wilmer Flores also reached on a single and a walk respectively, but the Mets’ offensive malaise persisted as Curtis Granderson popped out and Kelly Johnson struck out to strand two runners. The deficit was cut, but the Mes were still losing.

The fifth and sixth innings were quiet, as Cabrera was the only baserunner for either side. Syndergaard finished his night after the top of the seventh, retiring the final ten batters he faced, striking out four, walking one, and allowing three hits. In the bottom of the seventh, Rene Rivera worked a walk and pinch hitter Travis d’Arnaud was hit by a pitch with two outs against Washington reliever Mark Rzepcynski. Dusty Baker brought in Koda Glover (who?) to strike out Jose Reyes, however, and the Mets left another two men on base.

Fernando Salas entered to make his second Met appearance in the top of the eighth, striking out two in a scoreless inning of work. Unfortunately, everything came apart for the bullpen in the ninth. Jerry Blevins allowed Murphy to single and Harper to double to start the inning. Hansel Robles then entered and surrendered a single to Rendon, putting the Nats up 4-1. Ramos followed that with another single, but Robles escaped the inning by retiring the next three Nationals.

The Mets had three outs to overcome their three-run deficit against Nationals’ closer Mark Melancon. Alejandro De Aza led off with a single, but Granderson ground into a force out, Johnson flew out and Michael Conforto grounded out as the Mets went quietly into the night. In case you were wondering about the division lead, the Nationals are now up by 10.5 games.

Mercifully (or perhaps horribly, if you’d rather the illusion of contention be ripped out quickly rather than in an agonizingly slow crawl), every other wild card contender – the Giants, Cardinals, Pirates and Marlins – also lost. With the quintet of losses, the Mets remain three games back of the first wild card spot and 1.5 back of the second spot. Robert Gsellman opposes Tanner Roark on Saturday night in the second game of the series.

Photo credit: Noah K. Murray – USA Today Sports