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Okay, we have been waiting for a long time for the Washington Nationals to make a run for playoffs and it seems that they might just be doing it right now. They opened their six-game homestand with a three-game sweep of the Miami Marlins and now they open a huge weekend series tonight at Nationals Park against the New York Mets.
Now that the Nationals have pulled within 6 1/2 games of Cincinnati Reds for the second wild-card spot, they can’t afford to stumble against the Mets if they expect to make it to the postseason. For those who are scoreboard watching, the Reds will be in Denver for the weekend to face the Colorado Rockies.
As we all know, the Nationals are a long shot to return to the NL Playoffs but the odds are getting better. Given a tiny chance of only 0.7 percent of making the playoffs only three weeks ago when they were six games under .500, the Nationals now have a 12.3 percent chance of pulling it off, according to FanGraphs’ projection formula.
So let’s look at Game 1 of the Nationals — Mets series. Tonight, Washington will be sending Jordan Zimmermann to the mound in search of his NL high-tying 15 wins. Last time out in Kansas City on Saturday, he gave up two runs in 7 2/3 innings to beat the Kansas City Royals 7-2 and tie St. Louis’ Cardinals‘ Adam Wainwright for the NL lead in wins.
Meanwhile, the Mets will counter with right-hander, Dillon Gee, who has been at his best when facing the Nationals. He won his first three starts against them behind a 0.96 ERA before allowing four runs over seven innings in a 4-1 loss at Washington on July 27.
Here are some quick facts that might give Nationals fans some encouragement. Washington has won the last three contests against the Mets and seven of 12 in the season series. Bryce Harper has enjoyed success versus Gee, homering among his three hits in five career at-bats.
Since the All-Star break, the Nationals are a woeful, 2-13 against teams that currently hold playoff positions. But they are 18-5 against everyone else. Now for the good news, their next 16 games all come against teams out of the race.
Rant Sports columnist James Williams is a seven-time Emmy Award winning, producer, director and writer. Follow him on Twitter @Wordmandc and be part of his Google+ group.
