It's been a while since the Mets and Phillies were both legitimate forces in the National League, so that makes this weekend's series in Queens can't miss baseball.
The Phillies enter the weekend riding a hot streak, having won eight of their last ten contests. The club carries a half-game lead into Friday over the Padres for the second National League wild-card spot.
Unfortunately, the Phils' lineup was dealt a significant blow on Thursday as Kyle Schwarber left the contest early with a strained right calf muscle.
The National League home run leader said he's not playing in Friday's series opener but optimistic he will return in some capacity this weekend.
"I want to be back as quickly as I can, but I also don't want to do anything outrageous to hurt the team and be down for an extended amount of time," Schwarber said.
"Obviously, we had a great homestand, and we have a big series coming up, but we have to be smart about it, too."
Schwarber has 34 homers and has hit .360 over his last seven games while slugging .600. He admitted Thursday the calf has been bothering him for a few weeks, but he doesn't believe it's anything serious.
"The grind of baseball," Schwarber said.
The timing is unfortunate for the Phillies as the Mets have three-time Cy Young Award winner Max Scherzer on the bump on Friday and two-time winner Jacob deGrom pitching on Saturday.
"We've been playing great baseball for the last how many months?" Schwarber said. "Just because one guy's down doesn't mean [anything]. We've shown that, where everyone steps up. It's going to be the same kind of thing here.”
The Mets enter Friday with a 10.5-game advantage over the Phillies in the NL East. The hosts have also dominated the season series thus far, winning nine of 12 head-to-head contests. The two clubs will face each other seven times over the next 11 days.
"We're playing really well right now in all phases of the game," said Phillies interim manager Rob Thomson. "It should be a good series. I'm looking forward to it."
Pitching Matchups
Friday: LHP Ranger Suarez (8-5, 3.68) vs. RHP Max Scherzer (8-2, 1.98).
Saturday: RHP Aaron Nola (8-8, 3.17) vs. RHP Jacob deGrom (1-0, 2.58)
Sunday: RHP Zack Wheeler (11-5, 2.63) vs. TBD
About the Mets
The Mets completed a sweep of the Reds on Thursday and are riding a six-game winning streak. Their 73-39 record is the second best in all of baseball behind only the Dodgers (77-33).
How to Watch
Hate or love it, Friday's series opener will be broadcast exclusively on Apple TV+. It's free to watch, but you'll need to jump through some hoops (click here).
