Here we are… 159 games down, three to go. The New York Mets and the Los Angeles Dodgers are in a dead tie for home-field advantage, with each team boasting the same 89-70 record.
“We’re going to play to win as many games as we can and to try to get home-field advantage in the first round,” Mets manager Terry Collins told reporters in Philadelphia. “I think it’s very, very important to have that. I think it’s something to shoot for. I think when you’re still playing for something, it prepares you better.”
The Metropolitans open up a three-game set tonight, weather permitting, against everyone’s favorite adversary the Washington Nationals.
The Mets will throw their three big horses to the mound led by Noah Syndergaard tonight and followed up with Matt Harvey and Jacob deGrom on Saturday and Sunday. Steven Matz is also expected to pitch five innings during one of the weekend games, most likely Saturday.
The Nationals will be opposing with Gio Gonzalez, Max Scherzer and Tanner Roark. It will be no easy task with Washington looking to play somewhat of a spoiler role, but the Mets have handled the Nats quite dominantly during their last two meetings, sweeping both three game series.
On the other side of the coast, the Dodgers open up a three-game set against the San Diego Padres. LA will look to send their big guns to the mound as well in this series led by Alex Wood and followed up by Zack Greinke and Clayton Kershaw as they position their starters for the NLDS.
Neither team has been playing exceptionally well as of late. In the Mets last 10 games they are 5-5 while the Dodgers are 4-6. With both teams knowing that home-field advantage is at stake this weekend, it will be interesting to see both teams ramp up the energy and quality of play as each look to pick up some momentum heading into the NLDS.
“What would mean the most would be for us to get home-field advantage in the NLDS,” says red-hot Lucas Duda. “That’s the key I think because we play well at home. We are amazing at home, so I think that would be a big help for us.”
It is worth noting that the Mets do hold the tie-breaker if the two teams play to the same record after this weekend. The Mets won the season series this year 4-3 thus giving them a valuable leg up on home-field.
“It’s easy to say, let’s just gear up for the playoffs,” David Wright said on the eve of the final series of the year. “But home-field advantage would be nice, so I think that that’s something that we really need to bear down these last three games and try to obtain.”
“Strategically, it would help us,” Wright said. “You want to get home-field for the fans, too. They’re as involved as any fan base giving us that home-field advantage. Also, it would be nice to get into the playoffs with some momentum, help us springboard into the playoffs.”
This oughta be fun! Meaningful games in October… 🙂
