The New York Mets are rapidly running out of chances to gain ground on the Philadelphia Phillies.
The Mets are desperate for a win Tuesday when they square off against the host Phillies in the second game of a four-game series.
Philadelphia (84-60) sits in first place in the National League East and has an eight-game lead over New York (76-68) with 18 games remaining.
The Phillies nipped the Mets 1-0 on Monday as Aaron Nola threw six scoreless innings and Jhoan Duran escaped a tense situation in the ninth inning to pick up the save.
“That was really encouraging, just seeing (Nola) pitch the way he has for so many years here,” Philadelphia catcher J.T. Realmuto said of Nola. “This time of year, we all know how important starting pitching is, and him being able to throw up zeros against a really good lineup like that is definitely encouraging to see.”
The Phillies would love a similar effort out of Ranger Suarez (11-6, 2.89 ERA) on Tuesday. The left-hander threw six scoreless innings on Thursday against the Brewers, giving him a 0.50 ERA over his past three outings.
“He was fantastic,” Philadelphia manager Rob Thomson said after the game in Milwaukee. “Strikes, command, kept them off balance, curveball was really good. I thought he was outstanding, I really did.”
Suarez has not faced the Mets this season. For his career, he is 4-3 with a 3.52 ERA against them in 16 games (nine starts).
New York will give the nod to Sean Manaea (1-2, 5.60), who started against the Phillies on Aug. 26. The veteran lefty held Philadelphia to two runs in 4 2/3 innings that day, striking out eight in a game the Mets eventually won 6-5.
Manaea is 2-2 with a 4.99 ERA lifetime against Philadelphia in seven games (five starts). He is hoping to bounce back from a rough outing (five runs on eight hits in 3 2/3 innings) against the Detroit Tigers on Sept. 1, after which he came down pretty hard on himself.
“I have high expectations of myself and this organization does,” Manaea said. “Everyone is pulling their weight, everyone is doing their thing and I’m not. It’s just very frustrating. I wish I had an answer for it, but I don’t. I will figure it out.”
As a team, the Mets have scored only 12 runs over their past five games. They managed just five hits on Monday, two of them registered by Pete Alonso. In all, New York is 4-7 since completing a three-game home sweep of Philadelphia late last month.
That said, the Mets still lead the San Francisco Giants by three games for the final NL wild-card spot.
“I feel great,” Alonso said. “If the season were to end today, we’ve got a chance to roll the dice in the playoffs. As years in the past have shown, wherever you start out doesn’t really mean much.
“Have we played our best baseball? No. I know our ceiling is sky high, but you can look at it two ways. You can look at it as, ‘OK, we haven’t played our best baseball up to this point.’ Or you can look at it as, ‘The talent in this room is undeniable.’”