PHILADELPHIA — At heart they are a bunch of homeboys.
The Mets’ 11-game road winning streak is the longest in franchise history, but that won’t stop manager Terry Collins’ crew from going full throttle this week in an effort to wrap up home-field advantage for the NLDS.
“We tried to set goals one thing at a time,” David Wright said after the Mets completed a four-game sweep of the Reds on Sunday, a day after clinching the NL East title.
“One thing was to try to get to the postseason, and hopefully we will be focused on the home field come Tuesday. It would be nice to get home field for our fans and to use that advantage for us.”
The Dodgers, who fell to the Giants 3-2 on Monday night, are two games behind the Mets in the race for home field. Foremost for the Dodgers was beating the Giants at least once in their four-game series to officially clinch the NL West.
Is home field necessary for the Mets? History says no, considering they have reached the postseason three times in the division series era (1999, 2000 and ’06) and advanced to the NLCS twice without the home field and once with it.
But the fact the Dodgers are 52-26 at home this season and began play 35-42 on the road is incentive for the Mets. At Citi Field, the Mets are 48-30. They are 41-37 on the road, but have won 30 of 41 away from home since July 1.
As much as anything, the Mets are using home field as a carrot to motivate them heading into six otherwise meaningless games against the Phillies and Nationals.
“Home field is a big deal and we need to make it a big deal,” veteran utilityman Kelly Johnson said. “I think we will. Make that a priority and it’s a good thing. We had a goal to win the division and that was the first goal. We’ve got a lot of goals left.”
Collins rested most of his starting lineup Sunday, but indicated the regulars will now see action until the home-field race is decided.
The Mets own the tiebreaker for home field, based on their 4-3 record against the Dodgers this season. The Mets went 2-1 in Los Angeles in early July before the Dodgers came to Citi Field later in the month and won two of four.
Until recently, Noah Syndergaard’s spot in the rotation might have hinged on whether the Mets have home field, but the rookie’s strong performances in his last two road starts may have convinced Collins it doesn’t matter where he pitches.
Former manager Joe Torre, during his Yankees tenure, was a proponent of opening the division series on the road, with the rationale that the lower seed puts pressure on the higher seed just by going 1-1 in the first two games.
But the Mets may better like their chances of beating Clayton Kershaw and Zack Greinke in the comfort of Citi Field over the 5 o’clock shadows that invade Dodger Stadium.
“It’s time to play – that’s where we are right now,” Johnson said. “It’s very good that we have still [home field] out there, and let’s play for it until we don’t get it or the season is over.”