Starting Friday, the team with baseball's best record, the San Francisco Giants, host the New York Mets for a three-game set by the Bay.
The Mets come in after being swept by the NL's worst team, the Chicago Cubs, in a three-game series at Wrigley Field. They now sit four games behind the Braves and Marlins for the NL East lead.
The Giants, on the other hand, have won seven of nine after taking the last two of their previous series in Cincinnati. San Francisco currently holds the Majors' largest division lead - 8.5 games ahead of the Los Angeles Dodgers.
Snapshot:
Home: San Francisco Giants
Record: (39-21, 19-9 home, 1st NL West)
Away: New York Mets
Record: (28-32, 15-15 road, 4th NL East)
Season Series: no games played
Key stat:
The Giants have the NL's best run differential (+60). That's 33 runs better than the NL's second-best marks owned by the Milwaukee Brewers and Washington Nationals (+27)
Giants outlook:
Are we headed for a Bay Bridge Series rematch 25 years in the making?
Per CSN Bay Area, "betting website Bovada.lv released its updated odds to win the 2014 World Series, and it's the Giants who have the best shot at 6/1, followed closely by the A's at 13/2."
If the wise guys prove correct, it could be a wild October in the Bay Area for the two regional rivals and their fans.
Mets outlook:
After being double-switched out of the New York Mets' 7-4 loss to the Chicago Cubs on Thursday, third baseman David Wright didn't have answers as to why it happened.
“I don’t know," Wright said, via ESPN.com's Adam Rubin. "I’m not the manager.”
When asked if he was surprised by manager Terry Collins' decision, Wright seemed just a little more understanding: "Again, I don’t make the decisions. I guess the way to answer that is you don’t make the last out of the inning, you don’t get double-switched for.”
Collins attempted to diffuse any potential criticism that could arise from the move.
“I only had one guy left on the bench,” Collins explained. “I wanted to try to keep [Lucas] Duda in the game. So I just told David, ‘Look, I’ve got to put the pitcher in your spot.’ He understands. He’s a pro. That was all it was.”
What to watch for:
Saturday night promises to be a battle of the ageless, as the Giants' 38-year NL Cy Young contender, Tim Hudson (6-2, 1.75). takes the mound against 41-year-old Mets veteran Bartolo Colon (5-5, 4.52).
Hudson has been absolutely brilliant all season long, walking just eight batters this year against 50 strikeouts in 77.1 innings pitched.
Colon's 8.1 strikeout-to-walk ratio is equally impressive, but Colon has also been extremely hittable since signing with the Mets this offseason - giving up 82 hits to opposing batters in 71.2 innings pitched.
What they are saying about the Giants:
Madison Bumgarner dominant, Giants win series (McCovey Chronicles)
Cain returns to oppose Mets' rolling Niese (Official Site of the Giants)
What they are saying about the Mets:
Mets will delay Harvey's mound work (ESPN)
Piazza: Don't blame Citi Field for Mets' struggles (NY Daily News)
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