“It’s going to be a big series. It’s two really good teams going at it. And they’re playing good baseball. We could have very easily come out of here with three wins. We come out with one. But we’ve got to turn the page and get ready for D.C.”
– David Wright
There are 26 games left to be played for the Mets in the 2015 regular season.
At this point the New York Metropolitans are perched atop the NL East with a four game lead over the Washington Nationals. The Mets begin an important three game series against the Nats this afternoon in what is going to be a pivotal series for both teams as they each look to win the division. It’s the biggest series of the season.
The Mets are 37-20 vs. the NL East this year, including 15-13 on the road. Their .649 winning percentage is the best for any team within its own division this year.
New York is 7-6 vs. the Nationals this year after going 4-15 vs. them in 2014. The Mets have certainly improved against the Nats but clearly it’s time to pull out all the stops.
The Nationals are coming in hot, riding a five game winning streak, while the Mets are coming off a series loss to the lowly Miami Marlins.
Yesterday was yesterday, and today is today. The Mets are still a team in first place with a respectable four game lead over the Nationals. I’d rather be the team being chased than the team tasked with doing the chasing.
It’s easy to believe that we are on the heels of another 2007 or 2008 type collapse. However, this team has shown a resiliency that we haven’t seen before over the last decade.
Time and time again this season, the Mets have fought back from every adversity and there’s no reason to believe that they won’t bounce back again in this critical series.
The ride is sure to be bumpy, but there is no reason to believe this club does not have what it takes to be this season’s NL East division champions and advance to the postseason.
The Mets will line up Jon Niese, Matt Harvey and Jacob deGrom against the Nationals’ top three starters; Max Scherzer, Jordan Zimmermann and Stephen Strasburg.
The Mets do need to turn it up a notch in this series and I believe they will meet that challenge. They will also receive some help from the calvary as Daniel Murphy and Lucas Duda will return to the starting line-up.
The time is now for this team to show they mean business on top of this division. This is serious September baseball at it’s best. The Mets have a great opportunity to create space between themselves and the Nationals and now is the time to do it. It’s gut-check time.
