Coming off a series victory over the Yankees, the Phillies are still keenly aware the Mets are lurking in their rear-view mirror.
Speaking on ESPNews this afternoon, Phillies first baseman Ryan Howard addressed the rivalry with the Mets and the NL East standings.
“To have the Mets right there, a half-game behind us, yeah, that’s definitely motivation,” Howard said. “When both teams get together and play, you know it’s gonna be a good series. The fans are gonna be in it, both teams are gonna be in it, and both teams are gonna go out and try and scratch, claw and do what they gotta do to win a game.”
Howard spoke without a hint of trash talk, as teammates Jimmy Rollins and Cole Hamels have in the past.
The Phillies, at 24-19, are one loss better than the Mets. The teams meet again at Citi Field June 9-11.
The Phillies have rallied to catch the fading Mets and win the division the past two seasons.
“It’s fun. It’s fun. I said it from day one, you can’t count anybody out in this division,” Howard said. “I think it’s gonna come down to it just like it has the last couple of years, to the last couple of days.”
Center fielder Shane Victorino said his World Championship team gained confidence winning two of three games at Yankee Stadium this weekend.
“It was big. I think it showed that we can play against anybody in baseball,” Victorino said. “They’ve got a great lineup, they’re a great team, they were playing hot baseball, and we went in there and could have [won] three out of three. Fortunately for us we took two out of three.
“That shows that we can play with the best teams. We know we can, we’re confident … we’re not sayng we’re better than anybody else, but when we walk on the field we know we have an opportunity to win a ballgame.
“That’s good; it leads to confidence, it leads to a different swagger out there, but a swagger of respect for the other team, that you want to go out there and win and that’s it.”