Wild Card Update: Mets Fall to Third Wild Card After Friday’s Loss
The Mets didn’t do themselves any favors last night in the wild card on Friday, getting shellacked by the Phillies 12-2 at home.
The loss made the wild card race tighter with eight games left to go, and the Mets will have their hands full with two more games against the Phillies before their fateful series in Atlanta.
Here is how the other wild card teams performed on Friday night.
Atlanta Braves (83-71, 2.0 GB)
The Braves fell to the Marlins Friday 4-3 to the Marlins, failing to gain ground on the Mets in the wild-card race.
Charlie Morton allowed four runs on seven hits across six innings of work, turning out a mediocre performance for a Marlins offense that added some top prospects at the deadline.
Ramón Laureano clubbed a homer and went 2-for-4, but the offense never went ahead of the Fish after they jumped Morton for three runs in the first.
The Braves will send Max Fried to the mound to try to get back in the win column. He’ll be opposed by former Mets pitching prospect Adam Oller, who has a 5.40 ERA this season. The game will start at 4:10 PM Saturday.
Arizona Diamondbacks (86-68, +1.0)
Meanwhile, the DBacks won a massive game against the National League Central-winning Brewers. The win separated themselves from the Mets by one game, and now the Snakes hold sole possession of the second NL wild card.
Zac Gallen started Friday’s start strong but faltered in the fifth inning. The Brewers tagged him for two homers and four runs in the inning, but the Diamondbacks struck back in the sixth for three runs.
Former Oriole DL Hall surrendered the three runs in the sixth. Before him, Colin Rea allowed three runs in four innings as an opener.
The Diamondbacks send Merrill Kelly to the mound, looking to secure a third consecutive win over the Brewers. It’s only his 12th start of the season, and Kelly has been okay so far with a 4.00 ERA.
Aaron Civale opposes Kelly, who has had a rough 2024. The righty is 7-8 with a 4.48 ERA, but has been better with the Brew Crew posting a 3.68 ERA since being moved to Milwaukee from Tampa. The game Saturday begins at 7:10 PM.
San Diego Padres (88-66, +3.0)
The Mets almost got an extremely lucky break Friday, as the Padres headed into extra innings with the White Sox after allowing a tying two-run homer in the bottom of the ninth.
The Padres, however, prevailed and walked it off in the tenth on a walk-off single by Fernando Tatis Jr. The win kept the Friars a full two games ahead of the Diamondbacks, and also within the Dodgers for a potential division title.
Martín Pérez starts for the Padres Saturday, looking for another win over the historically bad White Sox. Former Met Chris Flexen opposes the lefty, who is 2-14 this season with a 5.09 ERA.
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