This story was originally published by Dead Spin
An ability to keep an even keel has the New York Mets in the thick of the National League wild-card race entering their road series opener against the scuffling Chicago White Sox on Friday.
“It’s just the resilience of the group,” Mets left-hander David Peterson said. “We have talked all year about letting each day be its own thing. When we win, we celebrate the little victory and move on. When we lose, we take a little from it and move on to the next day.”
New York put that mindset into practice Thursday, winning 3-2 at Arizona one night after surrendering an eighth-inning grand slam in an 8-5 defeat. Jose Iglesias singled home the go-ahead run in the ninth Thursday.
The Mets enter the opener Friday three games behind the Atlanta Braves for the third and final wild-card spot in the NL.
Chicago is coming off a 2-1 home loss Thursday to the Texas Rangers, who handed the White Sox their 21st series sweep of the season.
Texas finished 7-0 against Chicago this season, securing five victories by one run.
As the White Sox aim to avoid multiple dubious baseball records in a lost season, the clubhouse consistently is preaching the value of resetting and improving. Rookie righty Nick Nastrini was the latest to take that rhetoric. In his first outing in the majors since June 8, he pitched six innings of one-run ball after entering Thursday with an 8.39 ERA.
“I just needed to refine some things. Needed to get in the zone. Needed to stop walking guys,” Nastrini said after taking the loss to fall to 0-6. “It’s nice to see all the hard work pay off and just a testament that it’s not over ’til it’s over.”
The White Sox have lost seven in a row. With 104 losses overall, they’re two from tying the franchise record set in 1970. Chicago must win 12 of its remaining 27 games to avoid matching the 1962 Mets for the most losses in modern baseball history (120).
Andrew Benintendi’s solo homer accounted for the lone Chicago run Thursday. Benintendi has two home runs in the past four games.
New York will recall right-hander Tylor Megill from Triple-A to start against Chicago as various injuries pave the way for his latest opportunity in the rotation.
Megill (2-5, 5.17 ERA) has made 10 appearances with the Mets this season, including nine starts. The right-hander was optioned to Triple-A on Aug. 2, two days after he pitched two innings of one-run relief against Minnesota.
Mets pitching coach Jeremy Hefner finds that though Megill has shown “spurts of dominance” in the majors — namely seven shutout innings against the Los Angeles Dodgers on May 28 — the key to sustaining success lies in sharpening his mental game.
“When he does struggle, it’s self-inflicted — it’s often not the other team,” Hefner said. “It’s like ‘walk, walk, homer.’ So, prevent the walks and then if they hit the solo home run it’s more manageable.”
Megill hasn’t faced Chicago in his career.
The White Sox will counter with rookie righty Jonathan Cannon (2-8, 4.57), who has lost three straight starts after opening August with six innings of one-run ball in a victory at Oakland.
Cannon, who hasn’t faced the Mets in his career, has allowed 13 runs and 21 hits in his past 14 2/3 innings. Overall, he has yielded one run or fewer in six of his 15 starts.
–Field Level Media
