Heath Miller was not, is nearing his return from the physically

NEW YORK -- The term next man up is most often associated with the NFL. But the injury-plagued New York Mets are winning with the mantra as they pursue a National League wild-card berth.The next next man up is left-hander Sean Gilmartin, who tries to nudge New York closer to the playoffs when he makes his first start of the season Saturday night in the third contest of a four-game series against the Philadelphia Phillies at Citi Field.The Mets won the first two games of the series including Friday, when they used six pitchers to piece together a 10-5 victory.New York (82-72) moved one game ahead of the San Francisco Giants (81-73) in the race for the NLs first wild card by virtue of Giants 7-2 loss to the San Diego Padres late Friday night.The St. Louis Cardinals, who lost 5-0 to the Chicago Cubs earlier Friday, are a half-game behind the Giants.Gilmartin is taking the rotation spot usually occupied by ace right-hander Noah Syndergaard, who was supposed to start Saturday but was pushed back at least a couple days because of a bout with strep throat.Gilmartin made 18 starts this season at Triple-A Las Vegas, but has not pitched more than two innings or thrown as many as 20 pitches since he was recalled by the Mets on Aug. 25.Got to turn to Sean Gilmartin (and) say Hey look, youve got to step up, heres your chance, Mets manager Terry Collins said.Syndergaards illness is the latest roadblock encountered by the Mets, who expected right-hander Jacob deGrom (right elbow) and left-hander Steven Matz (left shoulder) to return to the rotation this week but instead learned they are done for the season.The Mets have three rookies in their rotation -- Robert Gsellman, Seth Lugo and Gabriel Ynoa, the latter of whom started Friday in place of Matz and allowed two runs in two innings.Youre numb to it now, its happened so much, Collins said of the constant upheaval.The Phillies, meanwhile, send rookie right-hander Alec Asher to the mound as Philadelphia (69-85) looks for the consistency it lacked the previous two nights. The Mets came back from ninth- and 11th-inning deficits to win Thursdays series opener 9-8 and trailed 3-1 after four innings Friday.The next step is for all these guys to get better, Phillies manager Pete Mackanin said. Thats how you win. Youve got to have consistency.Gilmartin is 1-1 with a 1.93 ERA in 10 career appearances against the Phillies, who were the opponent for his lone previous career start last Oct. 1. He took the loss after giving up two runs over five innings in Philadelphias 3-2 victory.Asher gave up five runs over a career-low two-thirds of an inning in his lone previous start against the Mets last Sept. 30. Sale Michael Jordan Jersey . Duchene scored two goals and had an assist, helping the Colorado Avalanche beat the Carolina Hurricanes 4-2 on Friday night to match the best 10-game start in team history. Cheap Sports Jerseys . Spiller left Week 3s 27-20 loss to the New York Jets with a thigh injury, but fully practiced with the team all week and expects to be ready to go on Sunday. https://www.sportsstarsjerseys.com/tom-brady-jersey/ . Aside from the trilogy main event title fight, there are a number of intriguing matchups in the heavyweight, welterweight and lightweight divisions. Signed Tom Brady Jersey . -- New England Revolution goalkeeper Matt Reis is retiring after a 16-year career to become the goalie coach for the Los Angeles Galaxy. Michael Jordan Jersey Nike . -- Claudio Bieler hadnt scored since early September, and not from the run of play since mid-July. PITTSBURGH -- Antonio Brown can do a lot of things, most of them spectacularly. Weaving his way through three defenders to get open, however, is not one of them.For the Pittsburgh Steelers offense to snap out of its midseason malaise, the All-Pro wide receiver needs help. While Brown is in the midst of another 100-catch season, no other Pittsburgh wideout is on pace for more than 40. During last Sundays loss in Baltimore, Brown was the only Pittsburgh receiver with a reception until early in the fourth quarter.Darrius Heyward-Bey, Sammie Coates and Cobi Hamilton, I think, collectively had zero catches, coach Mike Tomlin said. You have to balance it out. You cant allow people to do some of the things that theyve been able to do against Antonio without repercussions. When were functioning well, its because those potential other guys, like Im talking about, are producing plays.That was something that happened with regularity over the seasons first five weeks. The Steelers raced to a 4-1 record and alleviated concerns they would struggle to find a complement to Brown with talented but mercurial Martavis Bryant serving a one-year suspension for violating the leagues substance abuse policy.Then the injuries and the losses started piling up. Slot guy Eli Rogers went down with a turf toe in Week 3, then was briefly benched when he returned for reasons coach Mike Tomlin declined to elaborate on. The best day of Coates brief career -- six grabs for 139 yards and two scores in a romp over the Jets in Week 5 -- also coincided with a laceration between the index and middle fingers of his left hand. Suddenly, his hot start was a memory.Heyward-Bey darted 60 yards to the end zone on an end-around against Miami, and made a beautiful toe-tapping touchdown in New England, only to sprain his foot in Baltimore. Markus Wheaton entered the season as a starter, but a sprained shoulder that has lingered for the better part of two months has made him a nonfactor.While running back LeVeon Bell may be the best run/catch dual threat in the league, hes more safety valve than sprinter.If you can contain 84 (Brown) and 7 (Roethlisberger) then everything else will fall in its place, said Ravens defensive tackle Timmy Jernigan, a game plan suure to be copied by the Dallas Cowboys (7-1) this weekend -- and everyone else the Steelers might play until they sort things out.ddddddddddddRogers appears on the verge of getting back to the form he flashed in Week 1, pulling in six balls -- all in the fourth quarter -- against Baltimore. Tight end Ladarius Green, signed in March to become the downfield threat Heath Miller was not, is nearing his return from the physically unable to perform list. Coates is playing even as the finger heals, though hes been a decoy more than anything and dropped a pass in the end zone in the fourth quarter against Baltimore that forced the Steelers to eat up more time as they tried to put together a rally.Pittsburgh (4-4) doesnt need someone to out-Brown Brown. But the Steelers are well aware they need to get production elsewhere when Brown is bottled up.It might not be a high-volume number of plays, but its significant plays, Tomlin said. Whether its a significant possession down, whether its a field-flipping play, whether its a touchdown.Anything to give Brown even the tiniest sliver of freedom.If teams are going to try to take the underneath stuff away, you have to hit the deep stuff, Roethlisberger said. And when they take the deep stuff away, you have to hit the underneath stuff. Its taking what the defense gives you. You just need to continue to grow in all areas of our offense, whether thats short or deep, or inside or out.And if the players are unsure about how to get there, Roethlisberger has a bit of advice. This isnt the first time in his 13-year career the Steelers have reached the midpoint a bit of a mess. Theres time to clean it up if everyone chips in.Follow me, Roethlisberger said. Guys who have been here who know, no time or reason to panic.Game notes C Maurkice Pouncey (thumb), RB DeAngelo Williams (knee) and S Jordan Dangerfield (groin) did not practice Wednesday. ... LB Bud Dupree practiced Wednesday, testing the groin injury that forced the team to put him on the injured reserve list in September.---For more NFL coverage: http://www.pro32.ap.org and http://www.twitter.com/AP-NFL ' ' '