SAN FRANCISCO -- The party is almost over.

The New York Mets head back to work Saturday now two games under .500 and trailing the St. Louis Cardinals by 5½ games for the National League's second wild-card spot.

Bartolo Colon (10-7, 3.38 ERA) opposes San Francisco Giants left-hander Matt Moore (7-9, 4.14) in the 4:05 p.m. ET game at AT&T Park.

The Mets (60-62) have surrendered 46 runs through five games of their trip, which has included stops in Phoenix and San Francisco.

SATURDAY’S NEWS REPORTS:

Yoenis Cespedes and Cabrera returned from the disabled list Friday, with Ty Kelly and T.J. Rivera demoted to Triple-A Las Vegas. Cespedes acknowledged his performance was negatively affected as he tried to play through the quadriceps injury before landing on the DL. He also insisted golf had no role in causing or exacerbating the injury. Cespedes and Cabrera each went 1-for-4 in their returns. Read more in the Daily News, Newsday and at MLB.com.

Steven Matz, who was scratched from Friday’s start because of shoulder discomfort, is due to be examined by team doctors in New York on Monday. Read more in Newsday.

Jonathon Niese is slated to start Tuesday against the St. Louis Cardinals at Busch Stadium. The Mets decided not to use Monday’s team day off to skip the fifth starter. That’s partly due to Matz’s shoulder issue, plus a determination that Jacob deGrom could benefit from an extra day of rest after giving up career highs with eight runs and 13 hits in five innings against the Giants on Thursday.

Neil Walker remained out of the starting lineup for a fourth game Friday with lower-back stiffness, but pledged to return Saturday -- unless his wife goes into labor and he requires paternity leave.

Josh Smoker joined the Mets on Friday in place of demoted fellow lefty reliever Josh Edgin. Smoker made his major league debut in the eighth, allowing two hits while recording only one out. He was charged with two runs.

Chief operating officer Jeff Wilpon as well as Howie Rose and Jay Horwitz visited Tom Seaver at his Calistoga, California, vineyard and presented him with a 2015 National League championship ring.

Darryl Strawberry is worried about Dwight Gooden’s well-being after Doc missed a joint appearance, Ethan Sears writes in the Post. “My fear is people that don’t change, they die,” Strawberry tells Sears. “They die this way. I just hope the light comes on soon before it’s too late.”

Kevin Plawecki drove in the lone run in Las Vegas’ 3-1 loss to Round Rock. Phillip Evans had his fourth straight game of three-plus hits, but Portland blanked Binghamton 3-0. The B-Mets were eliminated from postseason contention. Lednier Ricardo had a tiebreaking two-run double and St. Lucie beat Palm Beach 7-3. Blake Tiberi's solo homer accounted for the lone damage in Brooklyn’s 4-1 loss to Staten Island. Read the full minor league recap here.