Mets' wild-card push continues in Atlanta
With the St. Louis Cardinals falling to the Milwaukee Brewers Thursday night, the New York Mets find themselves in sole possession of the second spot heading into Friday’s game in Atlanta.
On Aug. 20, the Mets were 5½ games behind St. Louis for that second spot, but now lead by a half game thanks to a 14-4 stretch that included two wins against the Cardinals.
As the Mets have made this run, they’ve done so despite three-fifths of the starting rotation being sidelined, and two of the fill-ins will take the hill to start this series. The team is somehow 7-2 in the nine games in which Robert Gsellman, Seth Lugo and Rafael Montero have been used as the starter/long reliever.
The question moving forward is whether the youngsters can keep up this pace, and though the odds would suggest they won’t, they could also keep out-producing expectations.
Gsellman starts Friday, and he’s gone 1-1 in his two starts. He also helped the team to a win over the Cardinals after filling in for Jon Niese after the lefty departed the game after one out.
The righty has allowed less than a hit per inning, but has shown a penchant for being able to navigate out of jams. In his last start against Washington, Gsellman stranded eight base runners in six innings of one-run ball, and held the Nationals 0-for-7 with runners in scoring position.
It may be hard to replicate a night like that again, but Gsellman has shown he can get outs at the major league level and has not wilted in key spots.
Lugo takes the ball Saturday and has pitched the best of the three. After losing his first career start against the Giants, he’s since rebounded to beat the Cardinals, Marlins and Nationals, and allowed three runs in those starts. He owns a 2.19 ERA as a starter, and pounds the strike zone.
The Mets are going to need the young starters to continue to produce quality outings, but they’ve shown thus far they are more than up to the task.
Ehalt writes for the Bergen County Register, part of the Paste BN NETWORK