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Watch Live: Mets host the Phillies in Free Game of the Day

As of Sunday morning, the New York Mets are facing a cold reality that even the most pessimistic fan could have not seen coming six months ago. At 66-63, they are closer to the rebuilding Philadelphia Phillies in the NL East standings than they are the first-place Washington Nationals.

To be exact, New York is currently seven games ahead of Philadelphia, while trailing Washington by nine games. As always though, the silver lining is the wild card picture. There, the Mets still have a better than fighting chance at 2 1/2 games back, but it’s going to require a strong finish.

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With a current three-game winning streak, the Mets will look to continue building momentum against those pesky Phillies at Citi Field on Sunday afternoon. The longtime rivals will meet in the MLB Free Game of the Day on Yahoo Sports, which can be streamed live at Yahoo’s Sports Home, MLB index and video home beginning at 1:10 p.m. ET

We know this for sure: Even in their state of rebuild, the Phillies would love to play spoiler, even if just for one day. They’ve been overwhelmed in the first two games, losing 9-4 on Friday and 12-1 on Saturday. Sunday’s pitching matchup would seemingly be in the Phillies favor as impressive rookie Vince Velasquez battles Robert Gsellman, who’s making only his second career appearance.

Looking big picture though, it’s all about the Mets finding themselves and mustering enough resilience to go on a September run.

Yoenis Cespedes celebrates his three-run homer with Jose Reyes. (AP)
Yoenis Cespedes celebrates his three-run homer with Jose Reyes. (AP)

It’s not going to be easy. Not with Matt Harvey’s season over and Steven Matz dealing with shoulder issues. It’s not going to be easy with an offense that comes and goes with seemingly no middle ground. Above all, it’s not going to be easy considering that the Giants, Cardinals, Marlins and Pirates all stand in their way. When the wild card gets that bunched, it’s difficult to find the opening the Mets will need.

That said, it won’t be impossible. We’ve seen the Mets surge before to save their season. It happened last season, leading to a surprising division title and ultimately an appearance in the World Series. It could happen again, but in many ways it feels like too many things would have to go right. Most notably, Yoenis Cespedes staying on the field.

If that happens, all bets are off.

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Mark Townsend is a writer for Big League Stew on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at bigleaguestew@yahoo.com or follow him on Twitter!