http://www.nytimes.com/2016/09/29/sports/baseball/new-york-mets-miami-marlins.html 2016-09-29 05:27:09 Jay Bruce Homer Helps Mets Beat Marlins and Protect Wild-Card Lead Bruce, who had mostly struggled since arriving from the Reds in an Aug. 1 trade, hit his third home run in five games, and the Mets stayed ahead of the Giants and the Cardinals. === MIAMI — As much as he said the right things and carried himself well, the struggles and the time on the bench bugged Jay Bruce. He was streaky at the plate, but he was a proven power hitter with three All-Star Game appearances and had hit at least 20 home runs in nine major league seasons, including this year. The In the meantime, Bruce worked with the Mets’ hitting coaches to fix his timing. And the efforts have proved fruitful for the Mets, highlighted by Wednesday’s 5-2 win over the With the Mets clinging to a 3-2 lead, Bruce smashed a two-run, fifth-inning homer off Marlins starter Jose Urena – Bruce’s third home run in five games — that provided more wiggle room. James Loney’s two-run blast in the second had tied the game, and Jose Reyes gave the Mets a lead with an R.B.I. double, but Bruce’s improvements were encouraging signs for a team needing as much help as possible to reach the postseason. All three teams vying for two National League wild-card spots entered Wednesday with razor-thin margins between them. The victory left the Mets one game ahead of the Giants, who entered their late game against the Dodgers on Wednesday a game ahead of the Cardinals. The improvement of Bruce — to go along with the strong contributions from Asdrubal Cabrera, Curtis Granderson and Lucas Duda — has helped a team that has been getting by on pitching. The rookie starter Seth Lugo, who has helped solidify the Mets rotation through other injuries, allowed two runs over five and a third innings. For their critical final weekend of the season, the Mets are considering all pitching options to secure a wild-card berth, but they must balance that with their desire to use their best starters for a potential wild-card game on Oct. 5. “Right now, we’re full-bore to get in,” Mets Manager Terry Collins said. Collins said the Mets were debating whether to start Bartolo Colon on short rest on Friday in Philadelphia. That would make Colon available to start the potential wild-card game in case Noah Syndergaard had to pitch Sunday’s game. Syndergaard, the Mets’ best healthy pitcher, pitched on Tuesday and is tentatively scheduled for Sunday. If the Mets have secured a wild-card spot by then, Syndergaard might only throw 25 pitches in the game to keep him sharp for the wild-card spot. But if they have not secured it, Syndergaard would pitch, Collins said. Colon would essentially be Syndergaard’s backup. Colon, the Mets’ second-best healthy starter, is on turn to next pitch on Saturday. He started Monday and threw only 47 pitches, so losing one day of rest to pitch again on Friday makes some sense. “I have a lot of confidence, because if someone can do it, it’d be him,” Collins said. Another wrinkle: If the Mets have guaranteed a wild-card spot by Sunday and the only considerations left was determining where the game would be played, Collins said it would be a difficult decision whether to pitch Syndergaard or not on the final day because that would rule him out for the wild-card three days later. “We want to go as far as we can,” Collins said. “If that means saving him to get us to the next round, we’ve got to certainly consider it.” All the dizzying playoff scenarios and pitching possibilities aside, the Mets have not guaranteed anything yet. Their win on Wednesday kept them in position to decide their own future in their final three-game series over the weekend in Philadelphia. With some help from the offense, the Mets pitching staff has benefited. Loney was not in the original starting lineup and he replaced Duda, who supposed to start but has been slowing working back into game shape following months away with a stress fracture in his back. Fittingly, Loney provided the home run that tied the game in the second. Lugo helped his cause with a double in the fourth inning, and scored when Reyes doubled to give the Mets a one-run lead. The Mets seized control of the game for good in the fifth inning. Granderson, who has contributed significantly this month, smacked a single with one out, one of his eight straight times reaching base since Tuesday. Bruce then smashed a pitch over the right field wall for a three-run lead. Throughout his struggles, Bruce said that he has always viewed playing baseball as a puzzle without all the pieces. Perhaps he has been one of the missing ones for the Mets’ playoff equation. INSIDE PITCH Manager