The New York Mets (68-64) defeated the Miami Marlins (67-65) by the final score of 7-4 tonight. For a full boxscore recap follow the link below…

http://m.mlb.com/gameday/marlins-vs-mets/2016/08/30/448834?#game=448834,game_state=final,game_tab=box

Game Notes:

• Coming in as a pinch-hitter and a defensive replacement, Curtis Granderson went 2-2 with 2 HRs and 3 RBIs.
• Asdrubal Cabrera went 2-4 with a 2-run HR.
• Jose Reyes went 4-5 with a double and two runs scored.
• Wilmer Flores was 2-4 with an RBI single.
• Seth Lugo pitched six innings while allowing 2 runs on 5 hits, while walking 1 and striking out 4.
• Jeurys Familia needed just one out to pick up his 43rd save of the season matching his career high and tying the franchise record.

Here come the Mets full steam ahead! The Mets are playing some of the best baseball they have played all summer and are continuing to make a push to secure a Wild Card birth. The Mets will sit either 2.5 or 2 games behind St. Louis depending on the final score of that game later tonight. The Mets also passed Miami in the Wild Card standings and have an opportunity to add to that lead over the next two games. While it has been such a trying season for this team, they somehow manage to continue to fight and claw their way back into the playoff picture. 

Curtis Granderson, who has been struggling this season, was not in the original starting lineup but he played a huge factor in tonight’s game. The Grandyman hit a pinch-hit home run for Seth Lugo in the bottom of the sixth, and then slugged a  two-run homer in the bottom of the seventh after being inserted into right field. In what has been a difficult season for Granderson, it was nice to see him have a big role in tonight’s victory and maybe tonight’s game can get his bat going in the right direction over the final month of the season. 

Jose Reyes has also changed the dynamic of this lineup and continued his torrid hitting with a 4-5 night. The energy Reyes brings to the team and also his production at the top of the lineup has done wonders for this team since his acquisition. Reyes has hit .356 in August for the Mets, joining red-hot teammates Yoenis Cespedes and Asdrubal Cabrera who have been carrying this team over the past two weeks. Regardless of this seasons outcome, Reyes has proven more than enough to both the organization and the fans that he deserves to be a Met next season. 

Despite giving up a two-run homer to Christian Yellich in the first inning, starter Seth Lugo quickly put it in his rearview and rolled for five scoreless innings. Lugo has been quite a pleasant surprise for Mets fans, and despite his numbers in the PCL friendly ballparks I was a big fan of the way his stuff looked in Spring Training. Lugo will continue to make starts for the Mets down the stretch and he could be the Mets unsung hero if they somehow make the playoffs, as he has helped solidify the back of the rotation despite all the injuries and push backs. Lugo after tonight’s start has a sparkling 2.60 ERA. 

Look I’m sure with the way things have gone lately I’ll be in for some kind of bad injury news tomorrow from the Mets, somehow someway. I just have learned to expect it. But tonight’s win is extremely satisfying and I will bask in it’s glory until I hear otherwise. 

• The Mets will have a chance to take a huge series victory in the third game of their critical four-game series with the Marlins tomorrow night. First pitch is scheduled for 7:10 pm et and can be seen on SNY.

• The rotation’s rock Bartolo Colon (12-7, 3.44 ERA) will toe the rubber for the Mets against Marlins right-hander David Phelps (7-6, 2.52 ERA).