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Instead of having an off day to prepare for their next series, the New York Mets flew over Colorado to make up a game in St. Louis on Monday afternoon.

New York beat the Cardinals 6-0, and now it is headed to Denver to start a three-game set with the Colorado Rockies on Tuesday night.

The Mets will send righty Luis Severino (7-4, 3.93 ERA) to the mound, while Colorado will counter with lefty Kyle Freeland (3-4, 5.64).

New York is battling for one of the three National League wild-card spots, and Monday’s game was pivotal against a team that is also fighting for a postseason berth. The Mets have put themselves in contention with a strong surge that began in early June, but they are in the midst of a tough stretch.

They have started their current 10-game road trip 2-2 and have struggled to produce with runners in scoring position. The Mets were 2-for-10 in those situations in a 3-2 loss against the host Los Angeles Angels on Sunday, their second straight one-run setback.

“We were always just one swing away,” New York outfielder Brandon Nimmo said.

Not every player made the flight from Los Angeles to St. Louis. Severino was sent to Denver early to get ready for his start, and he knows it’s important to build off Monday’s win over the Cardinals.

“This is the longest road trip I’ve ever seen,” Severino said recently. “It’s going to be tough for us, but this is what we get paid for, to go out there and play every day.”

Getting to Colorado ahead of the rest of the team will give Severino a chance to get acclimated to the thin air, which should help considering he has never pitched in Denver. Severino has never even faced the Rockies.

Freeland, on the other hand, has some experience against Severino’s team. He is 2-1 with a 2.52 ERA in five career appearances (four starts) against the Mets and can get another win if he continues to pitch like he has since coming off the injured list.

In his seven starts since being activated from the 60-day IL on June 23, Freeland is 3-1 with a 2.91 ERA and has logged six quality starts. The most recent one came in his latest outing, when he held the Angels to one run over seven innings on Wednesday in a bounce-back performance. Before that, Freeland was roughed up by the San Francisco Giants in his only poor start since coming off the IL.

Freeland acknowledged that he failed to pitch inside against San Francisco and worked on that in a bullpen session.

“It was a pretty easy correction for me,” Freeland said.

Tuesday marks the Rockies’ first home game since center fielder Brenton Doyle earned NL Player of the Month honors for July. In 25 games last month, Doyle hit .333 with 11 home runs, seven doubles and 27 RBIs. His 19 extra-base hits led the majors in July, and he also played exceptional defense.

“I absolutely love his defense,” Freeland said of Doyle. “And with his offense this year, he’s turned an extreme corner, showing that he can hit for average and power.”

–Field Level Media