NEW YORK -- It may be time to raise the bar.
The New York Mets’ shot at winning the NL East faded weeks ago when the Washington Nationals pulled away. Since then, the team’s main objective has been to prevail over a spate of injuries and simply get back into the postseason.
But now it may be something different, something better. The Mets have gotten to a point where they might be able to not only lock down an NL wild-card spot, but also grab the home-field advantage for the wild-card game.
The Mets opened a stretch of 10 home games against teams that already have been mathematically eliminated on Friday night with a 3-0 win over the Minnesota Twins before 33,338 at Citi Field. They get two more against the Twins, then three against the 90-loss Braves and four against a Phillies team that entered play Friday 17 games under .500.
And while the Mets are facing some of the worst Major League Baseball has to offer, their two chief competitors for the top wild card -- the Cardinals and Giants -- are in the midst of duking it out in a four-game series in San Francisco.
Friday's win -- the Mets' ninth in their last 12 games -- assures them of remaining at least one game ahead of the Cardinals in this three-teams-for-two-spots contest. They also have a chance to pull even with the Giants for the top wild-card slot.
“Maybe if you look at the big picture, you’d think about a home game. We can’t do that right now. We’re doing exactly what we should be doing: concentrating on the game we have today,” said Jose Reyes, whose leadoff homer in the third snapped a scoreless tie. Three pitches later, Asdrubal Cabrera made it back-to-back home runs.
“We’re going to play a lot of sub-.500 teams, but any team in the big leagues can win a ball game,” Reyes added. “You have to continue to go out with the right attitude, no matter who we’re playing. We have to find a spot in the playoffs first. Then maybe there’s time to think about that.”
“We made a statement about three weeks ago that we just have to take care of our own business -- if we do, we’ll be back in the hunt,” manager Terry Collins said. “Well, we’re in the hunt, deeply, and that’s all we’ve got to continue to do: not worry about anything else except our business and trying to win a game each and every night.
“No other stuff from the outside like ‘Geez, if we keep winning, we can get a home game.’ We need to get in right now. That’s got to be our main focus.”
But it’s hard not to see what could be developing. The Mets began this run with starters Jacob deGrom and Steven Matz sidelined. DeGrom is now going to pitch Sunday, and Matz may be able to make a late September return. Plus the returns of Juan Lagares and Lucas Duda could mean Collins has extra tools in his bag to build a win.
“It feels much better having people coming back than having people go down,” Reyes said.
The Twins didn’t exactly show a lot of resistance Friday. They managed only three hits, including an infield single that extended Brian Dozier’s hitting streak to 20 games, and got only one runner past second base. Mets starter Bartolo Colon did have his "A" game as he threw seven scoreless innings, allowing the three hits and two walks while striking out six.
The 43-year-old Colon (14-7) has been a bit of a godsend in this season where Matt Harvey was lost to surgery to treat thoracic outlet syndrome, and deGrom (forearm) and Matz (shoulder) have been sidelined.
“I don’t know with all that’s happened this year, if we hadn’t had him in our rotation, I am not sure where we’d be right now. ... And here we are, right in the pennant stretch in late September, still carrying the staff,” Collins said. “You just keep looking at him and wondering when it’s not going to happen anymore, and I’m not sure anyone has an idea. I think it’s going to be there for a long time.”
Yoenis Cespedes redeemed himself for an unsightly error in left field with an RBI single in the seventh and Jeurys Familia earned his 49th save despite allowing the tying run to reach the plate by issuing two walks.
“We did what we had to, to win,” Reyes said. “That’s what we have to keep doing. Then we’ll see where we are."