September 29th to October 1st: Mets at Phillies

Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday 7:05
Citizens Bank Park - Philadelphia, PA

Mets 89-67, 1st Place in the N.L. East, 9 1/2 games ahead of the Nationals
Phillies 59-97, 5th Place in the N.L. East, 30 games behind the Mets

Mets Probables:  Bartolo Colon (14-12, 4.15), Steven Matz (4-0, 2.27), Logan Varrett (1-1, 2.70)
Phillies Probables:  David Buchanan (2-9, 7.96), Alec Asher (0-5, 7.52), Jerad Eickhoff (2-3, 3.07)

At the Ballpark:  There are no promotions or giveaways scheduled.  The N.L. East champs will most likely trot out their B or C team while the Phillies will do their best to stave off the inevitable 100 loss season.

Mets Leaders
Average:  Daniel Murphy - .285
Runs:  Curtis Granderson - 96
Home Runs:  Lucas Duda and Curtis Granderson - 25
RBIs:  Lucas Duda and Daniel Murphy - 70
Stolen Bases:  Curtis Granderson - 11

Wins:  Bartolo Colon and Jacob deGrom - 14
ERA:  Jacob deGrom - 2.60
Strikeouts:  Jacob deGrom - 198
Saves:  Jeurys Familia - 42

Phillies Leaders
Average:  Odubel Herrera - .287
Runs:  Odubel Herrera - 60
Home Runs:  Ryan Howard - 23
RBIs:  Ryan Howard - 77
Stolen Bases:  Cesar Hernandez - 19+

Wins:  Ken Giles, Aaron Harang and Aaron Nola - 6*
ERA:  Aaron Harang - 4.86
Strikeouts:  Aaron Harang - 106*
Saves:  Ken Giles - 13^

+Ben Revere, now with the Blue Jays, is the overall team leader with 24 stolen bases.
*Cole Hamels, now with the Rangers, is the overall team leader with 6 wins (tied) and 137 strikeouts.
^Jonathan Papelbon, now with the Nationals, is the overall team leader with 17 saves.

1985 Topps #677

1985 Topps #302

1985 Topps Appreciation:  We've reached the penultimate series of this dreadful season, and I've got two cards of mustachioed former Mets and Phillies to feature.  Before checking his Baseball Reference page, I had forgotten that Wally Backman played two seasons for the Phillies in 1991 and 1992.  I had thought he was only around for a single season, but he did in fact suit up in both the maroon pinstripes of 1991 and the red pinstripes of 1992.  Backman of course started his career with 9 seasons with the Mets.

Tim Corcoran was a teammate of Backman's on the 1986 Mets team for all of six games.  He accumulated seven at-bats with the Mets in April and June going 0 for 7 before being released on June 9th.