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NEW YORK — The New York Mets and Tampa Bay Rays will experience what it’s like to look across the field and feel as if they’re staring into a mirror for the last time this season on Sunday afternoon when the teams play the rubber game of a three-game series at Citi Field.

The Mets’ Chris Flexen (0-1 Youth John Moore Jersey , 10.80 ERA) is scheduled to face the Rays’ Nathan Eovaldi (2-3, 3.92) in a battle of right-handers.

The Rays posted a 3-0 win Saturday afternoon when ace left-hander Blake Snell tossed 7 1/3 strong innings and Wilson Ramos collected two RBIs.

The Mets and Rays have combined for just nine runs in the first two games, four of which were registered when New York’s Jose Bautista hit a walk-off grand slam to lift the Mets to a 5-1 win on Friday night. The teams had just eight hits in 77 plate appearances with runners on base on Friday and Saturday.

Such struggles have become routine for the Rays and Mets, who ranked 26th and 27th in the majors in runs scored after Saturday’s game — during which Tampa Bay moved past New York.

The offensive woes have threatened to negate the strong work of both pitching staffs. The Rays (44-44) have a 2.77 ERA since May 19, when they began infusing their rotation with the “opener” in select games.

“I think that with the way we’ve pitched, we find ourselves being in a lot of ballgames,” Rays manager Kevin Cash said before Saturday’s game. “But when the bats are quiet, it just becomes really, really tough to find ways to win ballgames.”

Starting pitchers for the Mets (35-50) Craig Smith Jersey , meanwhile, have a 2.25 ERA in the last six games and a 3.94 ERA this year. New York’s three most utilized starters — Jacob deGrom, Zack Wheeler and Steven Matz — are 11-16 despite a 3.06 ERA in 51 games.

“If we win just five games of deGrom’s and Matz’s and Wheeler’s — and that’s being conservative — we’re right where we want to be,” Mets manager Mickey Callaway said after Saturday’s game. “And it just hasn’t happened.”

Flexen will make his first start of the season and his first appearance since June 24, when he took the loss after giving up one run in one inning as the Mets fell to the Los Angeles Dodgers 8-7 in 11 innings. He hasn’t started in the majors since last Oct 1, when Flexen allowed six runs (five earned) in 1 1/3 innings as New York fell to the Philadelphia Phillies 11-0 in the season finale.

Eovaldi didn’t factor into the decision in his most recent start Monday, when he gave up two runs in six innings as the Rays fell to the Miami Marlins 3-2 in 10 innings. He has allowed two runs or fewer three times in seven starts this season but has surrendered at least four runs three other times.

Flexen has never faced the Rays. Eovaldi is 1-4 with a 5.01 ERA in nine career starts against the Mets.

Seven-on-seven drills.

Playbook run-throughs.

Pretending that everything is normal.

It’s all part of the New England Patriots getting ready for the regular season.

Three months after losing the Super Bowl to the Philadelphia Eagles, the Patriots held their second organized team activity on Tuesday – without Tom Brady and Rob Gronkowski.

Coach Bill Belichick declined to comment on the absence of two of his biggest stars, and their teammates claimed to be too focused on their own jobs to worry about who wasn’t there.

”It’s been really hard to get accustomed to a new team and learn everybody’s name Jimmy Howard Jersey ,” rookie Danny Etling, a seventh-round draft choice who hopes to follow Brady as New England’s starting quarterback, said when asked if he had communicated with the three-time NFL MVP yet. ”I’m just really focused on getting to know everybody.”

Asked if he knew Brady’s name, Etling smiled.

”Yeah, I know Tom,” he said. ”He’s a pretty great quarterback, probably the greatest of all time.”

Tuesday’s practice was not mandatory, and Brady and Gronkowski were among more than a half-dozen other players who skipped it. Belichick said he would only comment on the players who were there.

Brady, who will turn 41 in training camp Jake Guentzel Jersey Kids , was reportedly in the area with his personal guru and trainer instead of Gillette Stadium, and Gronkowski was said to have joined him.

Both players had quarreled with the Patriots this offseason over their contracts, with the Pro Bowl tight end dangling the possibility of retiring before informing the team last month that he will return.

Brady’s dissatisfaction reportedly stems from a below-market contract – two years, $41 million – and talk of speeding up the plan for Jimmy Garoppolo to succeed him as the starter. Garoppolo was traded to San Francisco, which gave him a contract that guarantees him more than $60 million in the first two years.

Brian Hoyer, who was brought in to be the backup, said Brady’s absence was not a distraction.

”I’m focused on myself. My teammates – we are all focused on getting better each day. That’s all we can do. I don’t think it’s a distraction in any way at all.”

Without Brady, Hoyer got the chance to run drills with the starting unit on Tuesday and said it was beneficial.

”I look at it as a great opportunity to be out there, to be the guy who is in charge in the huddle Authentic Justin Bailey Jersey , especially for quarterbacks, there’s nothing like being out there simulating plays against the defense,” he said. ”Even 10 years in, you’re always learning new things.”

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