The New York Mets went on a challenging road trip and returned home in a better position to make a charge at the final National League wild-card berth over the final weeks of the season.
The Boston Red Sox are running out of time to author a similar tale.
The Mets (73-64) will look to stay hot and the Red Sox (70-67) will attempt to spark their playoff push Monday night when the teams meet in the opener of a three-game interleague series in New York.
Luis Severino (9-6, 3.96 ERA) is slated to start for the Mets against fellow right-hander Brayan Bello (12-6, 4.66).
The Mets closed out a successful 10-game road trip Sunday after Sean Manaea and a pair of relievers combined to two-hit the Chicago White Sox in a 2-0 victory.
The Red Sox hit the halfway point of their six-game trek with a 4-1 loss to the Detroit Tigers in the rubber match of a three-game series.
The road trip got even better hours later for the Mets, who inched within a game of Atlanta for the last National League wild-card spot after the Braves fell to the Philadelphia Phillies, 3-2, in 11 innings.
New York went 7-3 while splitting a four-game series with the San Diego Padres and taking two of three from the Arizona Diamondbacks before sweeping the woeful White Sox.
“You have to feel good about it,” Mets manager Carlos Mendoza said. “Looking back, we knew what was in front of us and now we’ve got to go home with the same mentality.
“Really good Boston team coming into town. They’re playing for something as well. We’ve got to be ready to go.”
The series loss to the Tigers increased the urgency for the Red Sox, who will enter Monday 4 1/2 games behind the Minnesota Twins and Kansas City Royals in the race for the final two American League wild-card berths.
The Red Sox scored just one run apiece in losses Saturday and Sunday as they missed a chance to gain on the Royals, who were swept by the Houston Astros. Kansas City has lost five in a row.
The struggles against the Tigers continued a lengthy slump for Boston, which has scored four runs or fewer in 10 of its past 14 games, a span in which it has gone 5-9.
“Right now, there’s not much going on,” Red Sox manager Alex Cora said. “It’s been going on for a while. We’ve just got to regroup, reassess and go from there.”
Severino didn’t factor into the decision last Wednesday, when he allowed four runs over 4 2/3 innings as the Mets fell to the Diamondbacks, 8-5. He is 5-7 with a 4.06 ERA in 16 regular season games (14 starts) against the Red Sox in his career. The right-hander is also 0-1 with a 14.54 ERA in two postseason appearances (one start) against Boston.
Bello earned the win Wednesday after allowing two hits over a career-high eight scoreless innings in the Red Sox’s 3-0 victory over the Toronto Blue Jays. He has never opposed the Mets.
–Field Level Media
