Ellis is set to make his first start for Philadelphia on Sunday when he catches struggling young right-hander Vince Velasquez. Cespedes was out earlier this month with his quadriceps injury.
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Velasquez fell to 0-4 in seven starts since the All-Star break in his most recent outing on August 21, when he gave up five runs over six innings as Philadelphia fell to the Cardinals, 9-0.
The Mets go for a Big Apple sweep of the Philadelphia Phillies when the two clubs wrap up their three-game series.
Wilmer Flores pinch-ran for Cabrera and scored on Curtis Granderson’s sacrifice fly before remaining in the game at third base.
Cabrera in the two hole has worked wonders for Terry Collins. And after that, Cabrera was removed from the game and escorted to the dugout by trainer Ray Ramirez.
After a surprising trip to the World Series in 2015, the Mets now sit outside of the playoffs in the National League, trailing the St. Louis Cardinals by 2.5 games for the second wild card spot.
“The confidence is back”, Collins said.
“It looks like a completely different team”, Collins said. In 438 plate appearances for the Mets this year, the 30-year old shortstop is having a nice season, slashing.269/.320/.444 with 16 home runs.
NY also lost shortstop Asdrubal Cabrera in the first inning.
“Reyes has a saying around the team that says, ‘Do your job, ‘ ” Cespedes said. “It’s like (the Mets) know what’s coming”.
Philadelphia salvaged the series finale after getting outscored 21-5 in the first two games.
Four times the crowd of 35,832 at Citi Field erupted while the Apple rose in center field and a Mets player jogged around the bases. “The energy is just different in the room right now”. “The desire, the motivation the not giving up to the last out”.
Then there is Cabrera.
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“The confidence at the plate”, Cabrera said. All three runners-plus two more-would come in to score, and the Mets couldn’t dig out of that deficit. The trio, which occupied the top three spots in the lineup in each of the last two games, is a combined 13-for-23 with five homers, nine RBIs and 10 runs scored against the Phillies. His 12th win tied him for the team lead with Bartolo Colon who got the win Friday night in the opening game of the three-game series. And an old friend, righthander Rafael Montero comes up from Double-A Binghamton to try and revive his big league career. He faces the Marlins’ best in Jose Fernandez Monday night, but Montero could make an impact if the surge in runs continues. Kelly Johnson iced it with a pinch-hit grand slam. And who have have thought that just a week ago?
