Today at 12:10 p.m. ET, the Philadelphia Phillies (47-60) and New York Mets (51-56) play the rubber match of their three-game set live from Citi Field in Queens. The game can be live streamed here. Philadelphia fans can hear all of the action on 1210 WPHT while New York fans can do the same on WOR 710.
Philadelphia continues a seven-game road trip while New York continues a seven-game homestand. The Mets took the opening game of this series 7-1 on Monday while the Phillies bounced back with a 6-0 triumph on Tuesday night.
Both teams enter play near the bottom of the National League East standings as New York sits in fourth place, 7.5 games behind the division-leading Nationals and Philadelphia is in last place, 11.5 games out.
Kyle Kendrick (3-10, 4.87) ERA toes the rubber for the Phillies while the Mets counter with Zack Wheeler, who is 5-8 with a 3.64 ERA.
Mets skipper Terry Collins continues to weigh his options at shortstop as incumbent Ruben Tejada has been struggling and Wilmer Flores was swinging a hot bat in Triple-A before being called up to the main roster.
"It depends on where you're going to play him," Collins said about giving Flores more playing time prior to Tuesday's loss via MLB.com. "Wilmer came up because Ruben got beaned [last week], so we were concerned about having a backup. So that's why he's here. There were no instructions to play him every day. We're going to try to get him at-bats. That's why he's in there today."
The Mets are unlikely to do very much before Thursday's non-waiver trade deadline, but the Phillies remain active in the market. One name that has been linked to a Philadelphia trade is outfielder Marlon Byrd, who was out of the lineup Tuesday due to cautionary reasons, not because of a looming deal.
"I was looking for a day coming into this series for Marlon," Phillies manager Ryne Sandberg told MLB.com Tuesday. "I was talking to him about it. I was thinking either today's game or the early turnaround [Wednesday]. Just so happened that in his last at-bat [on Monday], he took a ball off his [left] foot, the same foot he took one off in the last three days "
Byrd ranks tied for fourth in the NL with 20 homers but also ranks second with 125 strikeouts. He is hitting .273 with 60 RBI thus far and could be on the move before Thursday. First baseman Ryan Howard, who paces Philadelphia with 62 RBI, is another name linked to trade rumors along with several other players.
The Mets counter with a lineup that is anchored by second baseman Daniel Murphy, who is tied for the NL lead with 127 hits and is tied for third in the league with 30 doubles. Murphy leads New York with a .292 average while first baseman Lucas Duda leads the team with 18 homers and 57 RBI.
Two NL East rivals close out their three-game set when the Phillies and Mets play a matinee rubber game at Citi Field this afternoon in Queens.
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