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. Cheap Switzerland Jerseys . Third-seeded Murray had the easiest path to victory on New Years Eve, barely breaking a sweat during his 6-0, 6-0 win over 2,129th-ranked Qatari wildcard recipient Mousa Shanan Zayed. Cheap Poland Jerseys . Dusautoir, the former World Player of the Year, sustained a torn bicep playing for Toulouse in the Heineken Cup on Saturday. The flanker, who has played 65 times for France, is expected to be out for up to four months. http://www.cheapsoccerjerseysoutlet.com/?tag=cheap-fc-borussia-dortmund-jerseys . -- Lou Brocks shoulder-to-shoulder collision with Bill Freehan during the 1968 World Series and Pete Roses bruising hit on Ray Fosse in the 1970 All-Star game could become relics of baseball history, like the dead-ball era. Cheap AS Roma FC Jerseys . According to a report from the Winnipeg Free Press, the Bombers will name Acting GM Kyle Walters to the post full time. Cheap Arsenal FC Jerseys .com) - The Pittsburgh Penguins placed forward James Neal on injured reserve Tuesday.Guus Hiddink has admitted he has been approached to manage in the Chinese Super League. I had some possibilities to go there in the recent past, said Hiddink, who did not expand on the comment.Ramires was sold to Jiangsu Suning by Chelsea last month for a reported £25m as part of a wider investment in football, with other players also heading to the Chinese Super League. Jiangsu Suning are managed by former Chelsea defender Dan Petrescu, while Sven-Goran Eriksson and Luiz Felipe Scolari are also bosses in China.Hiddink reckons China is an attractive option for many, but so too is the Premier League, which has a global appeal and will soon have a further influx of cash from the new brroadcast coverage deal, which is worth £5billion domestically.ddddddddddddOf course, when you travel around the world, the Premier League is so attractive, attracting a lot of people, added Hiddink, whose side play Manchester United on Super Sunday, live on Sky Sports.In the biggest cities to the smallest villages, wherever in the world there is a satellite showing Premier League.(And) clubs in England cannot complain about having no income in the near future. 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