There’s no better way to start October for the Phillies than a meeting with the Mets – NBC Sports Philadelphia

Get ready for a Phillies-Mets NLDS.

The Mets staged a dramatic ninth-inning comeback in their vital Game 3 of the wild-card round on Thursday night, defeating the Brewers 4-2 on a three-run home run by Pete Alonso in what otherwise could have been his finale in the battle with the Team.

They’ve been on the road for nearly two weeks, have played five games in the last four days and have just 24 hours off before facing the Phillies in Game 1 at Citizens Bank Park on Saturday at 4:08 p.m

The first pitch of the NLDS is thrown by Zack Wheeler. It appeared the Mets would use left-hander David Peterson, whose 2.41 ERA in his last 11 starts helped propel his team to the playoffs, but he was needed as a relief in the ninth inning on Thursday. It could end up being Tylor Megill, Luis Severino on short rest, or a bullpen game for the Mets. Peterson may still be in the game himself, although that’s not entirely clear at this point. Severino, Sean Manaea and Jose Quintana started in the wildcard round.

The Mets are a solid team – power, plate selection, ability to string hits together and come back late in games. They did it all week, all month, and the entire second half. It’s an extensive cast including Francisco Lindor, Brandon Nimmo, Alonso, Mark Vientos, Jose Iglesias, Jesse Winker, Starling Marte and JD Martinez. They don’t have the top pitching of the Phillies, and their bullpen isn’t as deep or talented as Edwin Diaz, but they won’t be a pushover.

The Mets were eight games under .500 when the Phillies faced them in London in the second week of June. Owner Steve Cohen answered questions this weekend about Carlos Mendoza’s leadership abilities, the trade deadline and the need for a rebuild. They were 28-36 when they left London and remained 61-37 the rest of the time.

One way the Phils can compete well with the Mets is through right-handed speed. Aside from Nimmo and Winker, every Mets threat hits from the right side, and switch-hitting Lindor was better against lefties. The Phillies can counteract this with Wheeler, Aaron Nola, Jeff Hoffman, Carlos Estevez, Orion Kerkering and left guard Matt Strahm.

Wheeler held right-handers to the second-lowest OPS (.434) of any pitcher in the last 50 years this season, behind only top hitter Max Scherzer. The right-handers hit .133 against Strahm, .173 against Hoffman, .186 against Estevez and .209 against Kerkering.

Nola faced the Mets twice this season, pitching a four-hit shutout in May and allowing six runs in September without getting past the fifth inning. He will start either Game 2 or Game 3, with Cristopher Sanchez pitching the other.

The Mets’ current trajectory is reminiscent of the 2022 Phillies – under .500 in June, a second-half surge full of late comebacks, a multi-week road trip to close the regular season and start the playoffs. They have spent most of the last month practicing attacks and reacting when their opponent scores.

They are a dangerous team, like any you will face at this time of year. The Phillies won the season series 7-6 and dropped three of the last four games. In hindsight, simply splitting this series at Citi Field at the end of September would have made the Mets’ playoff path much more difficult and perhaps prevented it altogether.

Instead, the Phillies will face a division rival in the NLDS for the third straight year. The last two times they were the underdog against a 100-plus win Braves team considered the best in baseball. This time they are the hunted.

There is no better start to the month that a fan base has been waiting for for a year.