A rival is back in town! The New York Mets (69-83) face the Philadelphia Phillies (84-68) in their final series of the year at Citi Field. While New York has less to gain, playing spoiler against a team in their division should add weight to this weekend. Let’s see if they will be up to the test after getting swept in a three-game series against the Baltimore Orioles earlier this week. Let’s take a look at some notes ahead of the four pitching matchups this weekend.

PITCHING MATCHUPS

  • Thursday: Aaron Nola (6-10, 4.69 ERA) vs. Nolan McLean (11-9, 3.24 ERA): Nola has had a difficult season overall, continuing his downward trend over the last few years. But to his credit, he has pitched well down the stretch. Over his last seven starts, Nola is 3-1 with a 2.18 ERA. He has allowed two runs or less in all of those outings. Nola is 6-7 with a 3.45 ERA in 15 career starts at Citi Field. McLean has had a really strong second half, but he’s coming off a rough outing – five runs allowed on 10 hits in five innings against the New York Yankees last weekend. He gave up two home runs, his first start with multiple allowed since July 30 against the Miami Marlins. McLean is 2-1 with a 0.47 ERA in three career starts against the Phillies.
  • Friday: TBD vs. Zac Thornton (4-5, 3.44 ERA): With Jesús Luzardo on the injured list with shoulder inflammation, the Phillies have a spot in the rotation to fill. A bullpen game is the likeliest option for Friday’s game. Last Saturday, Tim Mayza threw three innings as an opener against the Atlanta Braves. After a poor performance against the San Francisco Giants, Thornton bounced back in a big way last weekend. He allowed two runs on five hits in seven innings against the Yankees – his second start of the year, with seven innings pitched. Thornton is 1-3 with a 3.80 ERA in eight home starts this season.
  • Saturday: Andrew Painter (3-9, 5.54 ERA) vs. Christian Scott (4-5, 3.76 ERA): Painter came into the season with a big opportunity to succeed in the Phillies’ rotation. Initially, he really struggled. In 14 appearances (12 starts), Painter pitched to a 7.06 ERA in the first half. But as the season has progressed, he has looked more settled in. He has given up three runs or less in three of his last four starts. While he took the loss against the Yankees last time out, Scott pitched really well – he allowed two runs on three hits in six innings. His third outing since the All-Star break with six innings or more. Scott is 1-0 with a 1.80 ERA in two career starts against the Phillies.
  • Sunday: Cristopher Sánchez (17-6, 2.93 ERA) vs. Jonah Tong (2-1, 3.43 ERA): While Sánchez isn’t one of the favorites to win the National League Cy Young Award, he has had a very good year. His 17 wins rank first among all MLB pitchers, and the Phillies are 22-9 in games started by him. But his last two outings have been very underwhelming: 11 earned runs over his last 12 1/3 innings, including three home runs. The Mets will look to make him work in the midst of his bad stretch. This final stretch of the season could be a really important step in the right direction for Tong. After a rough season in Triple-A Syracuse, a few good big-league starts could go a long way. Tong is 3-1 with a 3.10 ERA in five career appearances (four starts) at Citi Field.

WHAT’S THE STORY?

I think it’s fair to say that the Phillies have failed to live up to expectations over the last few years. They lost the 2022 World Series against the Houston Astros, and a year later, they fell to the Arizona Diamondbacks in the NLCS despite having Game 6 and 7 at home. With Bryce Harper, Kyle Schwarber, Trea Turner and Zack Wheeler approaching or already in their mid 30s, the urgency to reach the mountaintop should be high as the postseason nears.

The Phillies begin play on Thursday 4.5 games behind the Braves for first place in the NL East. With 10 games to go, Philadelphia will most likely have to run the table as a Wild Card team. In a deep National League, that will be far from easy. And given the state of their roster, you will find few teams with more pressure to win in the 2026 playoffs.

PREDICTION

The Mets have made a habit of playing spoiler against quite a few teams throughout the second half. And with this being the final home series of a bad season, the players will want to give the fans something to cheer about. New York will perform better and take two games, splitting the series in the end.