When the Mets traded Jason Vargas to the Philadelphia Phillies on July 29, manager Mickey Callaway knew the team would see its former LHP soon as an NL East opponent.
Vargas is no longer in New York, but he helped his previous organization's postseason push from a different angle during Saturday's game at Citizen Bank Park.
After an even first few frames in which the Mets held a one-run lead, they broke things open against their former starter, knocking him out with one down in the top of the fifth inning and fueling a 6-3 win over the Phillies to clinch the weekend series.
"It's frustrating in the fact that we know where we are and wins are at a premium," Vargas said, according to Bob Brookover of the Philadelphia Inquirer. "Definitely more frustrating (with the Chicago Cubs losing), but just frustrating in general to not get it done. It's even more frustrating when you're feeling really good because I felt really strong, and I was making quality pitches inside. They were sticking to their game plan and prolonging innings by staying on pitches that were down and away."
In the arms race for the NL's second Wild Card spot, the clunker from Vargas (6-7) allowed the Mets to inch further back up the standings.
A sweep of the Phillies (69-65, 12.0 GB in NL East, 3.5 GB for second Wild Card) in Sunday night's 7:05 p.m. finale on SNY would bring the Mets (69-66, 12.5 GB in NL East, 4.0 GB in second Wild Card) back above their NL East rivals, who currently hold a half-game lead and trail the Cubs (73-62, 2.5 GB in NL Central, 3.5 GA for second Wild Card).
As the Mets continue their push, they look to receive the same production from Saturday against Vargas, a result that Callaway saw progress in after another sharp day at the plate.
"They kept on grinding it out," Callaway said. "Vargas pitched a little different than we'd seen him before. He had a lot of fastballs in, didn't throw as many changeups and he battled through and kind of held us through a couple of big jams. But our hitters just kept with their approach, understood to get them up, out, over and make sure we don't chase the ones off or the breaking balls down or changeups down and we ended up getting to him."