The following is the remaining schedule for the Mets and Phillies.
Phillies (13 at home, six on the road): three vs. Florida, four vs. Milwaukee, three at Atlanta, three at Florida, three vs. Atlanta, and three vs. Washington.
Mets (12 at home, seven on the road): two vs. Washington, three vs. Atlanta, four at Washington, three at Atlanta, four vs. Chicago, three vs. Florida.
The Phillies will play 10 of their 19 games against teams with winning records. The Mets will play seven of their 19 games against teams with winning records.
One of the local Philadelphia stated the obvious, but it begs repeating.
A three-game lead is huge this time of year. If the Mets finish 11-11 (.500), the Phillies have to go 14-8 (.636) just to end up in a tie.
The Mets end the season with 17 games played in 17 days., however it’s tropical storm season so maybe Mother Nature will help the Mets gain at least one day off in that span.
Also, after the Phillies series, the Mets will play 12 of the remaining 19 games at Shea including the final seven games of the season.
Those last seven contests will feature four games against a tough Cubs team, but they are not nearly as good on the road as they are at home. (Home: 51-24 Road: 34-31)
The other thing is that by the time the Cubs roll into town, they may very well have clinched the division. This may give them cause to rest their overworked and injury prone staff, and also rest some of their regulars.
The way I read this schedule is that it favors the Mets over the Phillies. The intangibles seem to favor the Mets as well.
