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On Monday night, the Washington Nationals and New York Mets start a three-game series in Washington, D.C. With nine games separating the NL East rivals in the standings, the division title seems all but out of reach for the Mets. But theres still a lot hanging in the balance -- for both clubs.Beat writers Eddie Matz and Adam Rubin explain.Matz:?Its always a big deal when the Nationals and Mets throw down. On the surface, given that Washington is nine games up on New York with 19 left to play, the three-game set that kicks off in D.C. on Monday might not seem as supersized as usual. Ah, but it is. Heres whats on the line for the Nationals:1. Figure out how to survive sans Strasburg. Star?Stephen Strasburg (elbow) may or may not be done for the season. If he is, the Nats need to find a replacement for him in the postseason rotation. Max Scherzer and Tanner Roark are no-brainers. After that, its anybodys guess. Gio Gonzalez has been eh. Joe Ross has been out since early July. Rookies Lucas Giolito, Reynaldo Lopez, and A.J. Cole have been filling in, but none of them has consistently wowed. How the pups perform down the stretch -- including Coles start against Noah Syndergaard on Tuesday -- could go a long way toward predicting how the Nats net out in October.2. Prove they can beat good teams. Despite their glossy 85-58 record (second best in the NL), the Nationals are just 15-20 against teams who are in line for playoff berths. Against everyone else, theyre 70-38, including 28-5 against division doormats Philly and Atlanta. Whether or not the surging Mets make the postseason remains to be seen, but this much we know: Theyre the only team Washington faces the rest of the way thats currently above the .500 mark. A series win over New York would help show that the Nats are more than just cupcake killers.3. Slam the door on the Mets. With three weeks left in the season, theres no earthly way that New York could possibly overtake Washington ... or is there? Given that this is the last series between the two teams, it seems highly unlikely. But lets say, just for the sake of argument, the Nats get swept. Suddenly its a six-game lead with 16 left to play. Stranger things have happened -- just ask the Mets. Back in 2007, they were seven games up on the Phillies with 17 games remaining and somehow managed to blow it. A couple curly Ws in D.C. this week, and Dusty Bakers club should have the division sewn up. If Washington can sweep the series and severely damage its archenemys wild-card chances in the process, well that wouldnt suck either.Rubin: The Mets will not catch the Nationals for first place in the National League East. Not with the Mets trailing the Nats by nine games with 19 remaining.So what is at stake when the teams open their final series of the season on Monday night at Nationals Park?A ton for the Mets.The Mets are 2-0 in games started by Rafael Montero in Jacob deGroms absence, but Montero has walked 10 batters in 9 1/3 innings in those pair of starts. Montero gets the opener in D.C. opposite Mat Latos, and the Mets desperately need Montero to harness his control and give them a shot at a win.These days, theres little margin for error with three teams vying for two wild-card spots.We know we can certainly play with them, manager Terry Collins said. Theyve got a little bit of pitching issues right now -- similar to us. Weve just got to go in there and play. For us, its about winning games. I dont care who theyre against. Weve just got to win games.As demonstrated by Saturdays extra-inning loss at Atlanta, when Collins didnt pinch run for Wilmer Flores in the eighth and the Mets ultimately lost to temporarily drop out of the second wild-card spot, the Mets have little wiggle room if they hope to return to the postseason.The Mets enter the showdown against the Nationals only a half-game up over the St. Louis Cardinals for the second wild-card spot. The San Francisco Giants, who lead the wild-card standings, are within striking distance, too.The good news for the Mets: The schedule heavily favors them the rest of the way. After completing this series in Washington, the Mets do not face another team with a winning record the remainder of the season. The Mets host the Twins (53-90), Braves (55-88) and Phillies (63-80), then complete the season with a trip to Miami (71-72) and Philadelphia.Meanwhile, the Cardinals and Giants square off in a four-game series beginning Thursday in San Francisco -- building in losses for at least one of the teams. St. Louis also has a pair of series remaining with the NL Central-leading Cubs, while the Giants have a pair of series remaining with the NL West-leading Dodgers.I look at the scores every day and I see teams with losing records beating teams that have winning records, Collins cautioned. Its part of the game. So youve got to go out and play. Custom Charlotte Hornets Jerseys . -- Adam Snyder returned to the San Francisco 49ers this season because the offensive lineman thought it was his best opportunity to win a championship. Nicolas Batum Jersey . -- Stanfords Kevin Danser knelt on one knee and hardly moved on the sideline as Michigan State celebrated its Rose Bowl victory and his Cardinal teammates made their way to the locker room. http://www.hornetsteamproshop.com/Cheap-Larry-Johnson-Hornets-Jersey/ . LOUIS -- The New Orleans Saints looked like a team playing out the string. Malik Monk Jersey . MLS Commissioner Don Garber and Miami-Dade County Mayor Carlos Gimenez also will attend the session, which was announced Monday. The league has discussed placing its next two expansion teams in Miami and Atlanta. Charlotte Hornets Jerseys . -- The Magic have their first victory of the new year. LOS ANGELES -- One potential All-Star seeks to recover from his worst performance of the season while another looks to continue his recent offensive success when the Baltimore Orioles meet the Los Angeles Dodgers on Tuesday night at Dodger Stadium.Right-hander Chris Tillman, who permitted four runs on six hits in 4 2/3 innings Thursday night in the Orioles 5-3 loss to the Seattle Mariners, hopes to return to the form that enabled him to win nine successive decisions before that defeat.Tillman (10-2, 3.72 ERA) shares third place in the American League in wins, and he is on pace to exceed his career-high victory total. The 28-year-old from nearby Orange County earned 16 wins in 2013, when he made the American League All-Star team for the first time in his first full season with the Orioles.After going 29-13 in 2013 and 2014, Tillman fell to 11-11 in 2015. Last winter, Tillman tinkered with his delivery and produced an effective change-up that complements his fastball.I experimented with some new stuff, Tillman said. Last year, I wasnt able to throw my off-speed pitches for strikes. The hitters were a little more comfortable when they were aware of just one pitch. In the offseason, we did some mechanical stuff, just some minor stuff that helped in a big way.Tillman will be facing the Dodgers for the first time in his eight-year major league career.As he tries to stop the Orioles five-game losing streak by ending the Dodgers five-game winning streak, Tillman will have to defuse one of the National Leagues most potent young threats.Los Angeles shortstop Corey Seager enters Tuesday nights contest with a 17-game hitting streak, a career higgh and the National Leagues longest this year.dddddddddddd During his streak, Seager is batting .414 (29-for-70) with eight doubles, two triples, two home runs and five RBI.For the season, Seager leads the Dodgers with 17 homers, 20 doubles, 100 hits, 57 runs, a .305 batting average and a .540 slugging percentage. The 22-year-old rookie also has 41 RBI to share the team lead with Justin Turner.Theres really nothing he cant do on a baseball field, and hes really continued to get better, Los Angeles manager Dave Roberts said of Seager. Its scary to think how much hes grown and become a very, very good major league player at this stage of his career, and hes only 22.Even with the presence of left-hander Clayton Kershaw, arguably baseballs best pitcher, Roberts paid Seager perhaps the ultimate compliment.Not to take away from anybody else on the club, Roberts said, but with what he does on the offensive and defensive side, yeah, hes our best player.Seager and his offensive teammates will look for help Tuesday from right-hander Kenta Maeda, who will face Baltimore for the first time in his rookie season.Maeda (7-5, 2.82 ERA) has not allowed more than four runs in any of his 16 starts for Los Angeles. In his past seven starts, the a 28-year-old from Japan is 4-2 with a 2.21 ERA. His last time out, Maeda held the Brewers to one run on three hits in six innings during an 8-1 win Thursday.Dodger Stadium hasnt been as kind to Maeda as road venues, as he is just 2-4 with a 3.00 ERA over eight outings in Los Angeles. ' ' '