The New York Mets lost a tough one to the Washington Nationals earlier this afternoon by the final score of 1-0. Ultimately they lost their final series of the season to the Nationals by two games to one, but there is still plenty of optimism surrounding the club as they head back to New York.

First and foremost the Mets didn’t lose any ground with today’s loss as they still hold the second Wild Card position, and are a half-game behind the Giants for the first Wild Card spot. The Mets are also entering the softer part of their schedule for the remainder of the season, while the Giants and Cardinals still have challenges laying ahead including an upcoming four game series against one another beginning tomorrow. On Friday, the Mets will welcome the Twins followed by the Braves and Phillies for their final homestand of the season. While the odds are certainly in the Mets favor, I’ve learned never to count my chickens before they hatch thanks to 2007 and 2008. But I still believe in our odds and the Mets could certainly place some distance between themselves in the race this weekend as the Cardinals and Giants will beat up on each other.

With the Mets not playing a team over .500 the rest of the season, unless Miami were to improve their record by the time the Mets play them, the baseball Gods are certainly providing the Mets with a golden opportunity. If Jay Bruce also begins hitting their odds of making the playoffs would be even better, but thats another issue for another day. The fact of the matter is the Mets hold their own destiny after the roller coaster of a season they have endured. And quite frankly today nobody is complaining including manager Terry Collins.

“We’re still right where we are. We’re going home in the Wild Card hunt,” Collins stated after this afternoon’s contest. “Our fans should be excited. It’s the last homestand. … We caught up a lot in the last couple of weeks. We’ve got ourselves right where we need to be. Yeah, today’s tough when the other two teams lose. But they’re saying the same thing.”

I’d bet many Mets fans feel the same way you do Terry.

Injury Updates:

• Starting pitcher Robert Gsellman is dealing with a labrum tear of an unknown degree in his non-throwing shoulder. The injury has finally become news due to the fact that Gsellman is not swinging a bat. Doctors will wait until the offseason to determine if his shoulder needs to be operated on, so the injury should have no affect on his 2016 status.

• Infielder Wilmer Flores is apparently dealing with another injury in addition to his neck discomfort. Flores has reportedly been also suffering from a wrist injury that he suffered with his neck injury on a home plate collision back in Atlanta last Saturday. Flores has been unable to swing a bat and will have his wrist looked at by doctors in New York tomorrow.

• Steven Matz threw a 20-pitch bullpen session in Port St. Lucie today according to Terry Collins. The Mets are currently considering piggybacking both Matz and Jacob deGrom (who also threw today) on Sunday against the Twins. That plan will only come to fruition if both players receive clearance after today’s sessions.

The Mets who have been dealing with a rash of injuries this season have updates on multiple players including both Steven Matz and Lucas Duda heading into this weekend’s series in Atlanta.

• We will start with the bad news first, as starting pitcher Seth Lugo’s scheduled start on Saturday has been pushed back to Sunday due to a blister on his throwing hand. Lugo apparently received the blister during his last start on Sunday, and it appears it is relatively minor in nature. While we’ve heard this before about every injury this season, we will keep close tabs on his injury to make sure it doesn’t turn into anything worse. Bartolo Colon will switch spots with Lugo and pitch on Saturday instead.

• Steven Matz is scheduled to throw off a mound in Port St. Lucie tomorrow after playing catch earlier this week. If all goes well we could possibly see Matz back in the rotation for the final stretch of the season. It is certainly welcoming news to the Mets rotation as they could certainly use him for the final few weeks of the season, and obviously the playoffs if the Mets make it that far.

• Jacob deGrom met the team in Atlanta today and played catch with Seth Lugo prior to tonight’s ballgame. There is no clear timetable as to when deGrom will throw off a mound in his recovery from a forearm injury, but having the 28-year old right-hander throwing again is certainly encouraging news. At this point Steven Matz may be closer to rejoining the rotation than deGrom.

• Juan Lagares has been officially cleared to start swinging a bat since undergoing thumb surgery to repair a torn ligament back in August. The Mets aren’t expected to rush Lagares in regards to swinging a bat, but it appears they are going to push him defensively so he can be used as a defensive replacement or as a pinch runner down the stretch.

• Lucas Duda has surprisingly been scheduled to take live batting practice with the ballclub prior to tomorrow night’s game against the Atlanta Braves. Duda orginally suffered a setback last month to the stress fracture in his back and has been shut down for a month. While there is no guarantee that Duda will be back this season, it is an encouraging sign to see him ramping up baseball activities. With James Loney struggling, if Duda’s back responds well to baseball activities there could be an outside chance the Mets bring him back before the end of the season. But that is just speculation, and nobody knows how Duda’s back is going to respond to batting practice tomorrow afternoon.