LOT ON THE LINE
Me ’ g M am f g p
MIAMI — Here’s a Fish story that is actually true: The Marlins have become as much a threat to the Mets’ playoff chances as that team in the nation’s capital, the Washington Daniel Murphys.
In a rare series of emphasis between the two franchises, the Mets and Marlins will take the field Friday night very much aware of the National League wild-card standings.
The stagnant Mets were one game behind the surprising Marlins — and tied with the Cardinals — for the NL’s second wild-card berth as Thursday’s play began. You can scheme all you want about how the Mets will catch the Nationals in the NL East race, but the first chore for manager Terry Coll i ns’ crew is moving ahead of the Marlins and staying there. “We’re going to have to fight a little bit to beat some of these good teams,” veteran utilityman Kelly Johnson said. “I think we’re in a good spot.” But it could be better. The Mets (50-44) are coming off two losses in three games to the Cubs and have played at an uninspired 3-3 clip since the All-Star break. The lineup remains inconsistent, but the latest worry is a starting rotation that has become vulnerable, with Noah Syndergaard and Steven Matz battling bone spurs and Bartolo Colon scuffling lately. And Logan Verrett, who will get t he start Friday at Marlins Park against Adam Conley, is still trying to prove he can be trusted in the fifth spot in the rotation now that Matt Harvey has undergone season-ending surgery.
“We’re sitting here right now going into the Marlins and they’re playing very well, we got to go win two,” Collins said. “We’ve got to make up some ground. There’s no doubt it’s going to be a big weekend for us.”
The Mets won two of three against the Marlins this month at Citi Field — a series in which Giancarlo Stanton hit four tapemeasure homers — but avoided facing Miami ace Jose Fernandez. The Mets won’t be so fortunate this time: Fernandez is scheduled to pitch Saturday against Jacob deGrom.
But the Mets have seen no shortage of quality starting pitchers lately.
“Coming in from the Cubs series, facing [Jake] Arrieta and [Jon] Lester, will kind of give us some idea when we face Fernandez, but still it’s not going to be easy,” Jose Reyes said.
Stanton is having an off year, but still entered Thursday with 20 home runs in a loaded lineup for manager Don Mattingly that also includes Marcell Ozuna, J.T. Realmuto, Martin Prado and Ichiro
Suzuki.
“They’ve got a very good offensive club,” Collins said. “We’re going to see Jose Fernandez, he’s almost unbeatable at home, that’s no fun. So this is what this time of year brings and that’s when you’re in a pennant race these are big games and big teams against good pitching. That’s why the game is great and fun.”
Collins rested Yoenis Cespedes, Asdrubal Cabrera and Neil Walker in Wednesday’s series finale against the Cubs with an eye toward having his starters refreshed for this weekend. But Wilmer Flores’ remains the team’s hottest hitter — with nine homers since June 3 — and could provide a nice alternative in the infield.
Johnson, who received a start at third base on Wednesday and went 4-for-4, is another bat Collins may need to get in the lineup.
“Miami, I think they are just growing,” Johnson said. “You could see their bullpen coming, they have got a lot of arms and they had a couple of starters step up like Conley and their lineup is hitting. They get a lot of hits and they are a good team. They have a lot of good players, athletes, and you can tell they have fun.” mpuma