dy weighing potential pitching decisions on the final day of the regular season Sunday, when Noah Syndergaard is scheduled to start.If you wake up Sunday morning and say, `OK,

NEW YORK -- Noah Syndergaard knows he needs to speed up. Carl Soderberg Jersey .Not his fastball; he throws harder than most anyone. His delivery, thats whats still way too slow.Bryce Harper hit two doubles and became the latest player to swipe a base against Syndergaard as the Washington Nationals beat the New York Mets 4-1 Friday night.Washington won its fourth in a row and leads the NL East by 10 1/2 games over the wild card-contending Mets. Like a lot of teams, the Nationals came out running on Syndergaard, stealing four bases in the early innings.In the next five days, going to work on getting quicker again, he said.Tall and slow to the plate, Syndergaard has had 45 runners steal with him on the mound -- the most against any pitcher since Hideo Nomo in 2001, ESPN Stats & Info said. Only six runners have been caught with Syndergaard pitching.Trea Turner led off the game with a single, stole two bases and scored on Harpers sacrifice fly.Yeah, hes real fast, very aggressive, and Noahs going to have trouble with those kind of guys, Mets manager Terry Collins said.Harper doubled with one out in the fourth, stole his 19th base with two outs and came home on a single by Wilson Ramos.Its all around the league that he doesnt hold runners yet, Nationals manager Dusty Baker said.Baker said the strategy does more than set up runs. It also seems to rankle Syndergaard.Hes prideful, Baker said. After a steal, he added, he looks at the runner and doesnt like it very much.Syndergaard (12-8) gave up just three hits in seven innings and retired his final 10 batters.Along with shutting down the Nationals in the middle innings, Syndergaard might have shut down the crowd, too. Earlier this week, he wrote on Twitter and said on video that he wasnt a fan of fans doing the wave.Harpers double set up Anthony Rendons two-run single in the ninth.Daniel Murphy singled in the ninth, and has a hit in all 14 games against the Mets this season. He also stole a base against the team he boosted to the World Series last year.A.J. Cole (1-1) earned his first major league win, giving up one run and three hits in six innings. He struck out five in his fourth career start.Asdrubal Cabrera homered for the sixth time in eight games, sending a drive over the right-center wall in the Mets fourth. His 19th home run came one pitch after he hit a long fly that barely hooked foul into the upper deck in right field.Mark Rzepczynski, Koda Glover, Oliver Perez and Mark Melancon combined for three innings of scoreless relief. Melancon closed for his 38th save.CABRERAS POWEROf Cabreras 19 home runs, 18 have come as a shortstop. Thats one behind the club record for the position set by current teammate Jose Reyes in 2006.COVER CHARGEReyes struck out twice in going 0 for 4, but he still managed to knock the cover off the ball. Literally, he did. In the first inning, Reyes hit a foul that kept spinning quickly in the batters box, with a flap of the ball coming loose. Reyes and Ramos watched it spin into the dirt for several seconds.TRAINERS ROOMNationals: RHP Stephen Strasburg (sore elbow) threw a bullpen and was feeling good, Baker said. There was no timetable for his return to the rotation, but Baker figured probably pretty soon.Mets: Collins said LHP Steven Matz (shoulder tightness) will head to the teams spring training complex in Florida after this weekend and start throwing again Monday. Matz is on the disabled list and hasnt pitched since Aug. 14.UP NEXTNationals: RHP Tanner Roark (14-7, 2.87 ERA) is 3-0 with a 1.82 ERA at Citi Field in seven games, four of them starts.Mets: RHP Robert Gsellman (1-1, 3.72) makes his second major league start. Among those in attendance will be Laurie Hernandez, who won a gold medal with the U.S. Olympic womens gymnastics team and will throw out the first ball. Fake Coyotes Jerseys . The players spoke Jan. 13 during a Major League Baseball Players Association conference call after Rodriguez sued the union and Major League Baseball to overturn an arbitrators decision suspending him for the 2014 season and post-season. Antti Raanta Jersey . Detroit and Boston are deadlocked, 1-1, and Tigers manager Jim Leyland could be forgiven if he was caught rationalizing instead of dissecting how his club could blow a 5-1 lead late in Game 2. https://www.cheapcoyotes.com/1158z-jorda...ey-coyotes.html . "I was fortunate to play many years at this level with a great organization and unbelievable teammates," said Hejduk in a statement. MIAMI -- The Marlins walked half a block alongside a hearse carrying their ace away from Marlins Park at the start of a funeral motorcade Wednesday, and then peeled away with watery eyes to go back inside and play a game.Drained by four days of grieving Jose Fernandezs death, they didnt have much left for the New York Mets.Jay Bruce hit his 32nd home run, James Loney also homered and the Mets helped their NL wild-card chances by beating Miami 5-2.New York began the night leading the Giants by half a game and the Cardinals by 1 1/2 games in the race for the two wild-card spots. The Mets conclude the regular season with three games at Philadelphia starting Friday.The Marlins loss in their home finale eliminated them from playoff contention. Despite high hopes this year, they still havent been to the postseason since 2003.That was the last thing on their minds five hours before first pitch. They wore T-shirts reading RIP while clustering around the limousine carrying Fernandezs casket to church for a viewing. Spectators, including Mets players and manager Terry Collins, lined the start of the route.It was terrible, Miami pitcher Tom Koehler said. I never thought Id have to be part of that. You have a 24-year-old who is on top of the world, and were walking behind his hearse. Were watching Miamis hero drive down the street.Added reliever Mike Dunn: You felt like you were pushing off your brother.Sympathetic as they are, the Mets are also in a tight wild-card race. Loney hit a two-run homer in the second, and Bruce added a two-run homer in the fifth. Curtis Granderson went 4 for 4, and Jose Reyes doubled home a run.Seth Lugo (5-2) went 5 1/3 innings and alloowed two runs, both on Martin Prados eighth homer. Shane Doan Jersey. Four relievers completed a seven-hitter, and Jeurys Familia pitched a perfect ninth for his 50th save, most in the majors.Jose Urena (4-9) allowed five runs in five innings, hiking his ERA to 6.13.RECORDSThe Mets finished 12-7 against Miami. The Marlins finished 40-40 at home.GOOD SEATS STILL AVAILABLEThe announced crowd was 24,335. The Marlins finished last in the NL in attendance for the 11th time in the past 12 years, averaging 21,405 per game.PITCHING PLANSAs the Mets chase one of the two wild-card berths, Collins is already weighing potential pitching decisions on the final day of the regular season Sunday, when Noah Syndergaard is scheduled to start.If you wake up Sunday morning and say, `OK, were in, but we dont necessarily have home-field advantage, do we use Syndergaard? Collins asked. Or do we say, `Hes going to pitch the first playoff game, no matter where its at?If the Mets have clinched home-field advantage, they might start Syndergaard on Sunday and have him throw about 25 pitches to ensure hes sharp for the wild-card playoff game on Wednesday.Otherwise he goes eight days without pitching, Collins said.UP NEXTRHP Bartolo Colon (14-8, 3.42) might start Friday on short rest when the Mets open their final regular season series at Philadelphia. RHP Robert Gsellman (3-2, 2.56) is also an option, but Colon threw only 47 pitches when he took the loss Monday against Miami.Marlins RHP Andrew Cashner (5-11, 5.13) will make his final start Friday at Washington. ' ' '