Matt Harvey is on track to start Game 5 of the NLCS after showing no lingering effects from the liner he took off his right shoulder on Saturday night.

Game 5 will take place at Wrigley Field on Thursday.

"Well, we'll see how he is with the bruise and how it's going to affect him," Collins said. "But he only threw [97] pitches, which is very, very good. If you're going to come back on four days' rest, keeping his pitch count where it was, I think it will be fine for him."

Collins and Sandy Alderson said before the series began that Harvey was being judged on a game-by-game basis. But neither would dispel the notion that Harvey could start twice against the Cubs and two more times after that if the Mets should reach the World Series.

Harvey's now thrown a total of 204 innings, far surpassing the 180 cap that the club had imposed during Spring Training.