Mets try to end skid vs. Phillies

The last time New York suffered a frustrating late-inning loss to the Chicago Cubs, the Phillies followed up by seemingly burying the Mets with a sweep in Philadelphia.

If history repeats itself this weekend, there won't be any "seemingly" about the Mets' fate.

The Mets will look to end an untimely skid Friday night, when they visit the Phillies in the opener of a three-game series that at least begins with National League wild-card implications.

Zack Wheeler (9-7, 4.46 ERA) is scheduled to take the mound for New York against Philadelphia's Aaron Nola (12-4, 3.53 ERA) in a battle of right-handers.

The Mets continued slipping out of the playoff race Thursday night, when they suffered their sixth straight setback, a 4-1 loss to the Cubs that completed a three-game sweep for the visitors. Chicago first baseman Victor Caratini hit his second homer of the game, a three-run shot, to snap a tie in the seventh inning.

The Phillies were off Thursday after cruising past the visiting Pittsburgh Pirates, 12-3, on Wednesday.

The sweep at the hands of the Cubs completed a nine-game homestand for the Mets that began in promising fashion with a three-game sweep of the Cleveland Indians. New York entered play last Friday in third place in the NL wild-card standings, 1 1/2 games behind the second wild card, the St. Louis Cardinals.

But the six straight losses have dropped the Mets five games back of the second wild-card Cubs and behind three other teams -- including the Phillies, who are 2 1/2 back.

Big deficits are nothing new for the Mets, who fell 10 games under .500 on June 29 after a seven-game losing streak that began with a 5-3 loss to the Cubs on June 23 -- Chicago scored three times in the eighth inning of that game -- and continued with four straight defeats to the Phillies.

But time is running out for the Mets, who have just 29 games left.

"The hardest part of it is that's six games closer to the end," Mets manager Mickey Callaway said. "But hey, we'll regroup. We still have faith in ourselves, we have faith in this team that we're going to get the job done."

The Phillies are surely feeling better about themselves and their playoff chances after manager Gabe Kapler's faith in Rhys Hoskins paid off Wednesday.

Hoskins, mired in a deep slump at the plate and a night removed from making the error that allowed the winning run to score in the ninth inning of a 5-4 loss to the Pirates, went 2-for-4 with an RBI in the finale. He entered the night hitting just .166 since the All-Star break.

"This game is rooted in failure and it will just eat you up if you don't keep going," Hoskins said.

Wheeler didn't factor into the decision last Saturday night, when he gave up five runs (four earned) over six innings as the Mets fell to the Atlanta Braves, 9-5. Nola took the loss Sunday, when he allowed three runs over seven innings as the Phillies were beaten by the Miami Marlins, 3-2.

Wheeler is 5-3 with a 3.43 ERA in 14 career starts against the Phillies. Nola is 7-1 with a 3.28 ERA in 12 career starts against the Mets.

--Field Level Media