Time: 07:10 P.M. EST Venue: Marlins Park
MIAMI -- The New York Mets have tightened up the playoff battle after beating the Miami Marlins 5-3 on Friday night. The Mets trail the Marlins by a half-game in the race for the second and final National League wild-card spot. Miami, however, has an ace in the hole Saturday night -- ace pitcher Jose Fernandez, who has been nearly unstoppable at Marlins Park with a 25-1 career record and a 1.43 ERA. Against the Mets, Fernandez is 2-0 with a 1.32 ERA in six career starts. Fernandez will face 2015 All-Star Jacob deGrom, who is 6-4 with a 2.38 ERA this season. Lately, deGrom has been even better -- 3-0 with a 0.93 ERA in his past four starts." If you are going to have a guy on our staff to match up with Fernandez, it would be Jacob deGrom," Mets manager Terry Collins said. "(deGrom) has pitched in his past few starts as good as anybody." Again, if you are a baseball fan -- if you love the game -- (Saturday night) is the game you want to come to see." Besides the great pitching matchup and the wild-card playoff race, the other bit of intrigue regarding Saturday's game revolves around Marlins backup outfielder Ichiro Suzuki, who is four hits shy of 3,000. Suzuki, who struck out as a pinch-hitter Saturday, could get a start on Saturday against deGrom, a right-hander, as opposed to waiting until Sunday, when Miami faces lefty Steven Matz. Certainly, the Fernandez-deGrom matchup will captivate baseball, and a Suzuki start would only add to the marquee value of the game. Otherwise, here are some other story lines to watch on Saturday:--Marlins closer A. J. Ramos has 31 saves. With one more, he ties his career high, which was set last year.--Mets closer Jeurys Familia has converted 50 consecutive save opportunities, the longest active streak in the majors and fourth-longest in baseball history. Eric Gagne has the record with 84, followed by Tom Gordon (54) and Jose Valverde (51).--The Marlins are 11-6 in July and have not lost consecutive games this month. The Marlins are 23-13 in their past 36 games at home. They started the season 1-7 at home.--Mets infielder Wilmer Flores has seven homers this month, tied for the major league lead.--The Mets are sixth in the majors with 129 homers. They have 31 this month, tops in the majors.--The Mets have a 3.41 road ERA, best in the majors.--The Mets are 19-11 in one-run games.--Mets left fielder Yoenis Cespedes is tied for eighth in the NL with 21 homers.--The Mets' bullpen ranks second in the majors with a 1.74 ERA for the month of July.
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