Mets return home to face rival Phillies (Jun 30, 2017)
NEW YORK -- The New York Mets are looking to continue building the momentum they generated during the second half of an eventful 10-game trip.
The Philadelphia Phillies are hoping to end a nine-game trip by doing what they did across the country earlier in the week -- dampening the playoff hopes of a fringe contender.
The National League East rivals will square off Friday, when the Mets host the Phillies in the opener of a three-game series at Citi Field. New York ace Jacob deGrom (7-3, 3.71 ERA) and Philadelphia rookie Ben Lively (1-2, 3.90) are scheduled to face each other in a battle of right-handers.
The Mets capped a .500 trip Thursday by beating the Miami Marlins 6-3. The Phillies were off Thursday, a day after they completed a two-game sweep of the host Seattle Mariners with a come-from-behind 5-4 victory.
The Mets (36-42) appeared headed for disaster when they opened the trip by getting outscored 36-11 in a four-game sweep at the hands of the Los Angeles Dodgers. But New York won five of the last six games, sweeping the San Francisco Giants and taking two of three from the Marlins.
"We knew we had some games left on the road," Mets manager Terry Collins told reporters Thursday night. "To certainly go home 5-5, we'll take it. We'll take it. That's a steppingstone in the right direction."
The recent surge pulled the Mets within 10 1/2 games of the Washington Nationals in the NL East and 9 1/2 games of the Colorado Rockies in the race for the second wild card.
"We're hoping our pitching is starting to fall in place right now," Collins said after Seth Lugo allowed two runs (one earned) over six innings to cap a six-game stretch in which Mets starters posted a 2.55 ERA. "And if it does, we've got an exciting second half ahead of us."
The Phillies (26-51), who have the worst record in baseball, will be playing merely for pride and the opportunity to play spoiler in the second half. Their two wins over the Mariners dropped Seattle into eighth place in the AL wild-card race.
"The guys are tired of losing," Phillies manager Pete Mackanin told reporters following Wednesday's win. "We've been in so many games that it gets to be frustrating."
A win Friday would give the Phillies only their third winning streak of longer than two games this season. A series win over the weekend would give Philadelphia its first winning road trip of the year. The Phillies lost three of four to the Arizona Diamondbacks before sweeping the Mariners.
"We're 3-3 on the road trip, which is nice to see," Mackanin said. "(The players are) pretty happy about the whole thing."
DeGrom has surged into All-Star contention by winning his last three starts, a stretch in which he has pitched at least eight innings each time and allowed just two runs over 25 innings to lower his ERA from 4.75 to 3.71. He surrendered one run in eight innings last Saturday as the Mets beat the San Francisco Giants 5-2.
DeGrom is only the second pitcher this season to throw at least eight innings in three straight starts. Boston Red Sox ace left-hander Chris Sale achieved the feat from April 20 through May 2.
Lively will be looking to snap a four-start winless streak. The 25-year-old right-hander, who hasn't won since his major league debut against the Giants on June 3, took the loss last Saturday, when he gave up five runs (four earned) over 5 1/3 innings as the Phillies fell to the Diamondbacks 9-2. It was the first time Lively had lasted fewer than six innings as a big-leaguer.
DeGrom is 4-0 with a 2.49 ERA in eight career starts against the Phillies. Lively has never faced the Mets.
Both teams may be playing a man short -- or making disabled list transactions -- on Friday. Mets outfielder Michael Conforto missed the series against the Marlins due to a left hand injury suffered when he was hit by a pitch on Sunday. Phillies utility player Howie Kendrick sat out Wednesday's game with a sore left hamstring, an ailment that has limited him to one start since June 22.
