Mets in line for series win over Phils

(SportsNetwork.com) - The NL East-leading New York Mets are in line for a series victory over the rival Philadelphia Phillies and will close out this three-game set Sunday from Citizens Bank Park.

Ace Matt Harvey and the Mets dropped the opener of this series, 3-1, and evened the matchup with Saturday's close 3-2 triumph. Perhaps the biggest moment of the night was when Mets reliever Buddy Carlyle entered the game in the bottom of the eighth with the bases loaded and one out.

Phillies catcher Carlos Ruiz grounded a Carlyle pitch to shortstop and almost beat out a double-play ball. Ruben Tejada's throw to first got there right before Ruiz hit the bag and the Mets held on for their fourth win in seven tries this month.

"He hit it pretty hard, so I tried to keep the ball down," Tejada said. "When I saw my glove, it's in there, so I threw the double play. Good play, in a good situation."

Jeurys Familia gave up a hit in the ninth and was able to record his 12th save of the season, which leads the National League. Juan Lagares gave the Mets a 3-2 lead with a two-run homer in the seventh inning and starting pitcher Jon Niese allowed two unearned runs in seven innings.

"Juan had a great hit there and our defense played outstanding," Niese said.

The Mets will visit the Chicago Cubs next at Wrigley Field.

Bartolo Colon eyes win No. 6 this season when he takes the ball for New York Sunday afternoon. The veteran Colon bounced back from his first loss of the season in Tuesday's 3-2 decision over Baltimore and fired 7 2/3 innings of one-run ball, striking out a season-high nine batters and walking none.

Colon, a right-hander, has issued just one walk this season. He is 5-1 with a 2.90 earned run average in six starts and 4-3 with a 3.97 ERA in nine career starts against the Phillies.

Aaron Harang pitched well for the Phils in taking the loss last night and dropped to 3-3 after yielding three runs (2 earned) and eight hits in seven innings.

Ruiz had an RBI and Andres Blanco went 2-for-3 for Philadelphia, which had won three of its previous five games and is now 1-1 on a 10-game homestand. Pittsburgh and Arizona are headed to south Philly in the next few days.

Chase Utley and Ryan Howard are expected to return to the starting lineup for the Phillies after neither started Saturday. Utley is hitting .109 and Howard has a .232 batting average.

Chad Billingsley's debut with the Phillies was a rough one, so he'll try to bounce back Sunday. Billingsley was rocked by Atlanta on Tuesday and surrendered six runs -- five earned -- and eight hits in five innings.

It was his first big league start since April of the 2013 campaign.

The right-hander has faced the Mets four times (3 starts) in his career and is unbeaten (2-0) with a 1.77 ERA.

Philadelphia was swept in three games by the Mets from April 13-15.