First pitch: Monday, 7:05 p.m. ET
Line: N/A, Total: N/A

The Mets will be hoping to pick up a big road victory over the Nationals on Monday night.

If the season ended today then New York would be in the NL Wild Card game, but the Mets still have a ton of work to do. This series against the Nationals is a big one and they can really use at least two victories in the three-game set. Washington has, however, been hot as well lately. The Nationals have won three straight games and six of their past seven coming into this one. They would also love to play the role of spoiler by knocking the Mets out of the top two in the Wild Card race. The starters in this one are set to be RHP Rafael Montero (0-0, 4.63 ERA, 10 K) for New York and RHP Mat Latos (7-2, 4.74 ERA, 35 K) for Washington. The Mets are an impressive 7-3 against the money line in September this season and they are also 9-2 after allowing four runs or less in five straight games on the year. The Nationals, meanwhile, are 45-19 against division opponents and 18-7 after six consecutive games against division rivals this season.

The Mets are playing extremely well right now and they’ll send Rafael Montero to the mound on Monday. Montero was decent in his most recent start, allowing three earned runs in 4.1 innings of work. He did, however, walk four batters in that Sep. 6 meeting with Cincinnati and will need to be better with his control in this one. It’d also be big if Montero could work deeper into this game. He threw just 79 pitches against Cincinnati, but he threw 100 in the start against the Marlins a week earlier. Offensively, 1B James Loney (.265, 7 HR, 29 RBI) is a guy to watch in this one. Loney has dominated Latos in his career, going 8-for-24 with two doubles, two homers and four RBI. That production should earn him a nice spot in this batting order and he should be expected to come up big in this game. It’d also be big for New York if OF Yoenis Cespedes (.293, 30 HR, 78 RBI) could find a way to get something going at the plate in this one. He is 0-for-8 against Latos in his career, but he is far too good of a hitter to go hitless against him for much longer.

Mat Latos is starting for the Nationals on Monday and this is going to be his first start since Jun. 7. Latos had given up five or more earned runs in three of his final five starts with the White Sox and has made two appearances out of the bullpen since being traded to Washington. While he might find a way to pitch well against New York, it’s likely that he won’t pitch more than five or six innings in this one. Offensively, 2B Daniel Murphy (.344, 25 HR, 102 RBI) should be able to do some damage in this game. Montero is an inexperienced pitcher, so Murphy will be aggressive at the plate. He is hot for Washington right now, as he is coming into this game on a nine-game hitting streak. It’d also be big for the team if OF Bryce Harper (.249, 24 HR, 80 RBI) can come through in this game. He has really underperformed all season, but the Nationals need him to start playing better down the stretch. Harper will need the momentum heading into the postseason and could get himself going in this one, as Montero is prone to making mistakes.