New York Mets

          Series preview: Mets vs. Cardinals

          NEW YORK METS (22-16, first place/NL East) vs. ST. LOUIS CARDINALS (25-12, first place/NL Central)

          Monday: RHP Matt Harvey (5-1, 2.31) vs. RHP John Lackey (2-2, 3.22), 7:10 p.m. ET

          Tuesday: LHP Jonathon Niese (3-3, 2.49) vs. RHP Michael Wacha (5-0, 2.06), 7:10 p.m. ET

          Wednesday: RHP Bartolo Colon (6-2, 3.86) vs. RHP Carlos Martinez (3-2, 4.73), 7:10 p.m. ET

          Thursday: RHP Jacob deGrom (4-4, 3.21) vs. LHP Jaime Garcia (0-0, --), 1:10 p.m. ET

          CARDINALS SHORT HOPS

          • Left-hander Jaime Garcia is ready to make his season debut in Thursday’s series finale against the Mets. Garcia, returning from shoulder surgery, allowed two runs on six hits while striking out six in six innings in a rehab start for Double-A Springfield on Friday. Tyler Lyons, who filled in three turns of the rotation for Adam Wainwright, has been demoted in anticipation of Garcia’s activation from the DL. Lyons had a 5.54 ERA in three starts after fellow left-hander Tim Cooney got the first chance to replace Wainwright but flopped. Wainwright has been lost for the season with a torn left Achilles tendon. Like Garcia, fellow left-hander Marco Gonzalez (shoulder soreness) also has started a rehab assignment.

          • First baseman Matt Adams just snapped a career-high 0-for-21 drought, but is still mired in a huge slump that has dropped his average to .237. Mark Reynolds started Friday and Saturday in place of Adams.

          • Randal Grichuk was activated from the DL on Saturday after missing 27 games with a lower-back strain. He started in right field that day, and may see some action in center field with Jon Jay having landed on the disabled list with tendinitis in his left wrist. Jay had surgery to address a frayed ligament in the same wrist in October. Grichuk nonetheless receded to a backup role with the offseason acquisition of right fielder Jason Heyward from the Atlanta Braves for Shelby Miller. The Braves seemingly have won that trade. Miller was within one out of a no-hitter on Sunday against the Miami Marlins. Setup man Jordan Walden, acquired with Heyward, is on the DL with right biceps inflammation.

          • Matt Holliday has reached base safely in his first 35 games of the season, the second-longest streak in franchise history. Albert Pujols owns the franchise record, at 41 straight games to begin 2008.

          • Michael Wacha is bidding to become the second Cardinals pitcher in the past 10 years to open a season 6-0. Lance Lynn opened the 2012 season with that same record.

          • Reliever Miguel Socolovich spent the 2014 season with the Mets organization at Triple-A Las Vegas. He went 2-2 with a 3.64 ERA in 51 relief appearances for the Pacific Coast League club.

          • John Lackey has not allowed a homer in 41 2/3 innings. According to the Elias Sports Bureau, that’s tied with David Phelps for the third-longest active streak in the majors among pitchers with at least one start this season, trailing only the injured Wainwright (58 IP) and Sonny Gray (45 IP).

          • Cardinals rookie reliever Mitch Harris is the first U.S. Naval Academy graduate to appear in the majors since Washington Senators pitcher Nemo Gaines in 1921.

          • Closer Trevor Rosenthal has switched entirely to the stretch to aid his control. He has cut his walk rate by nearly half since 2014, when he walked 42 in 70 1/3 innings while converting 45 saves.

          • The Cardinals are 6-11 at Citi Field since 2010 -- their worst winning percentage of any NL road venue during that span.

          • The Cardinals are wearing a black patch on a sleeve with the initials “OT.” Top prospect Oscar Taveras died in October in an automobile accident in his native Dominican Republic.