New York @ Philadelphia preview

Last Meeting ( Sep 25, 2016 ) Philadelphia 0, NY Mets 17

The New York Mets can punch their ticket into the postseason as early as Friday heading into the opener of a three-game series against the host Philadelphia Phillies. The Mets have won five of their last seven, including an emphatic 17-0 rout on Sunday to take three of four versus the National League East-rival Phillies at Citi Field.

Asdrubal Cabrera belted a grand slam in that outing, has five multi-hit performances in his last nine contests and is batting .393 against Philadelphia this season. Jose Reyes has hit safely in five straight and eight of his last nine for the Mets (85-74), who lead San Francisco (84-75) by one game and St. Louis (83-76) by two for the final two wild-card spots. Philadelphia has been outscored 41-10 en route to dropping four in a row overall and saw its losing streak reach seven games versus Atlanta after getting swept on Thursday. Odubel Herrera has 24 hits in his last 15 contests for the Phillies, who have dropped 36 of 52 against NL East representatives since May 20.

TV: 7:05 p.m. ET, SNY (New York), CSN Philadelphia

PITCHING MATCHUP: Mets RH Robert Gsellman (3-2, 2.56 ERA) vs. Phillies RH Alec Asher (2-0, 1.66)

Gsellman turned in his second scoreless performance in three outings on Sunday after scattering three hits - all singles - over seven innings against Philadelphia. The 23-year-old struck out eight in that contest to run up his total to 35 in 38 2/3 frames this season. Gsellman wasn't as fortunate in his previous outing versus the Phillies, permitting four runs on seven hits in six innings of a 5-1 setback on Aug. 28.

A pair of errors led to a four-run fifth inning in Asher's last outing on Saturday, which resulted in a 10-8 victory over the Mets. Asher has only yielded four earned runs in four starts this season and has yet to be taken deep in any of those contests. Control also hasn't been an issue of late for Asher, who hasn't walked a batter in each of his last two games after issuing three free passes versus Pittsburgh on Sept. 13.

WALK-OFFS

1. New York OF Jay Bruce is 7-for-16 with three homers, five RBIs and as many runs scored during his five-game hitting streak.

2. Philadelphia OF Aaron Altherr answered an 0-for-12 stretch by going 4-for-10 in his last three contests.

3. Mets OF Curtis Granderson is 8-for-16 with six runs scored during his four-game hitting streak, but is just 9-for-54 versus the Phillies this season.

PREDICTION: Mets 5, Phillies 1