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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.Wholesale Air Force 1 Mens . Collaros, 25, was solid last season, posting a 5-2 record as the starter while incumbent Ricky Ray was injured. Collaros also started Torontos 23-20 regular-season finale loss to Montreal — Ray didnt dress because the Argos had already clinched first in the East Division — but was one of three quarterbacks to play that day. Cheap Nike Tanjun Shoes . Datsyuk will miss Tuesdays game against New Jersey and could be sidelined longer, while Cleary will likely miss at least the next three games. Its been an injury-plagued season for Datsyuk, who has suited up for just 39 games. http://www.airforce1shoesireland.com/air-force-1-black-wholesale-ireland.html .875,000, avoiding arbitration. Clippards deal Monday means all eight Nationals players who filed for arbitration wound up settling before a hearing. Air Force 1 Just Do It Ireland . "It doesnt get any better than that," Giambi said. "Im speechless." The Indians are roaring toward October. Giambi belted a two-run, pinch-hit homer with two outs in the ninth inning to give Cleveland a shocking 5-4 win over the Chicago White Sox on Tuesday night, keeping the Indians up with the lead pack in the AL wild-card race. Fake Air Force 1 . Goals from Jerome Boateng, Franck Ribery and Thomas Mueller extended Bayerns unbeaten run to a record 37 matches. "This record is incredible," Bayern coach Pep Guardiola said.WACO, Texas -- Bill Menefee, whose tenure as Baylor athletic director included a Southwest Conference football championship and five bowl trips for the Bears, has died. He was 95.The university said Menefee died Thursday in Waco.Menefee served as Baylors AD from 1980-92, a stretch when the Bears won the 1980 conference title. He had a 149-144 record as the mens basketball coach from 1961-73.The native of tiny Grandfalls, Texas, first went to Baylorr in 1947 as a physical education instructor.dddddddddddd He also was an assistant coach and oversaw freshman teams.Menefee was with the U.S. Marines in the Pacific during World War II, and served three months in Okinawa. He was awarded a Purple Heart. His wife, Dorothy, died in 2012 after they had been married 69 years. ' ' '