Banged-Up New York Mets Ready For Fight To Finish In NL East

The New York Mets had the day off Thursday.

It probably could not have come at a better time. The Mets had a long day Wednesday that was filled with highs and lows while they swept a day-night doubleheader from the Pirates in Pittsburgh.

And the day of leisure came in a pretty good spot. The Mets flew from Pittsburgh to Miami on Wednesday night in advance of a three-game series with the Marlins that begins Friday night at loadDepot Park.

South Beach is very nice in September.

The Mets should be ready and rested not only for the Marlins but the final 24 games of the regular season. It figures to be an intense stretch run for the Mets, who are locked in a tight battle with the Atlanta Braves for the National League East title.

The Mets (87-51) hold a ½-game lead over the defending World Series champion Braves (86-51). The close race is distressing to Mets’ fans, who are so used to seasons imploding and watched their team race to a 10 ½-game lead at the end of May.

“It’s not supposed to be easy,” Mets manager Buck Showalter said.

However, it’s difficult to accuse the Mets of losing their grip on the race. Since building that 10 ½-game lead, they have gone 53-34 for a .609 clip.

The Braves, though, have been otherworldly since that span. They have a 63-24 since June 1 for an astounding .724 winning percentage. That projects to a 117-45 record over a full season.

The teams meet only one more time, facing off in a three-game series from Sept. 30-Oct. 2 at Truist Park in Atlanta. The Mets hold a 9-7 edge in the head-to-head tiebreaker.

“I said from the start that this was going to be a tight race and it is,” Mets shortstop Francisco Lindor said. “We’ve got three teams from our division who deserve to go to the playoffs. We knew it was going to be a fight to finish.

“What we’re good at is playing that night’s game then putting it behind us and getting ready for the next game. That’s really how you have to approach a pennant race.”

The third team Lindor referred to is the Philadelphia Phillies. At 75-62, they are in playoff position and hold a 2 ½-game lead over the Milwaukee Brewers for the third and final NL wild card.

At 11 ½ games out, the Phillies have virtually no chance at winning the division, though. The NL East has come down to a two-team showdown between the Mets and Braves.

While they were winning a pair of games Wednesday in Pittsburgh, the Mets received some concerning medical news on two of their key players.

Three-time Cy Young Award winner Max Scherzer was placed on the 15-day injured list with what was termed left oblique irritation. He missed nearly two months earlier in the season with a left oblique strain.

Scherzer and Showalter both said this injury isn’t nearly as serious. They expect Scherzer to return to the active roster Sept. 19, the first day he is eligible to be reinstated.

Meanwhile, right fielder Starling Marte was found to have a non-displaced fracture in the middle finger of his right hand. Marte, who is a righty thrower, was injured a night earlier when hit by a pitch from the Pirates’ Mitch Keller.

The Mets did not put Marte on the IL, but Showalter wouldn’t rule out the possibility of a move happening.

The Mets seemed to take the bad news in stride. And if the injuries are perceived as concerning in the clubhouse, right-hander Chris Bassitt insisted it would only be because of a “New York media creation.”

“I think we’re doing everything in our power to be smart so we’re ready for October,” Bassitt said. “And that’s what it’s about.”