Back to .500! Mets blow away Yankees for a two-game sweep

The Mets have reached their first milestone after a 17-6 run to get them back to .500 for the year

Michael Baron

Jun 27, 2024

What’s Up with the Mets? ⚾️

The Mets crushed the Yankees 12-2 at Citi Field on Wednesday (Box)
The Mets got multi-RBI days from Mark Vientos, Francisco Álvarez, Tyrone Taylor, and Harrison Bader the latter three having hit home runs
The Mets slugged hit three more home runs after slugging four on Tuesday, totaling seven home runs in the two-game series. They have hit three or more home runs in a game in three straight games, the first time that has happened this season
Sean Manaea allowed five walks and two hits over five scoreless innings, and while Danny Young allowed a two-run homer to Aaron Judge, Adam Ottavino and Adrian Houser combined for 3.2 scoreless innings
The Mets have scored ten or more runs in a game seven times this season, six of which have come since May 31
The Mets are 39-39 on the year and are at the .500 mark for the first time since May 7. Their 15-6 record in June is the best in baseball, they’re 13-12-3 in series overall, 6-10 in series at home, earned their sixth series sweep of the season, 7-10 against the American League, 2-3 against the AL East, and 26-11 when scoring five or more runs

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Roster Moves 🗞️

RHP Drew Smith (right elbow sprain) placed on the injured list
RHP Ty Adcock recalled from Triple-A Syracuse

Who’s Hot 🔥

During his eight-game hitting streak, Francisco Álvarez is hitting .556/.647/1.037 with four doubles, three home runs and nine RBI. The Mets are 22-3 in games Álvarez has appeared in since April 4
In 32 games since May 15, Mark Vientos is hitting .290/.354/.553 with six doubles, eight home runs and 20 RBI with 20 runs scored
In his last 38 games, Harrison Bader is hitting .278/.333/.504 with 11 doubles, five home runs and 23 RBI
In his last 33 games, Francisco Lindor is hitting .319/.375/.558 with 44 hits, 15 doubles, six home runs and 17 RBI with 25 runs scored

Mets Offense, since May 30 (MLB ranks) ⚡️

148 runs scored (1st)
39 home runs (2nd)
.295 team batting average (1st)
.366 OBP (1st)
.522 SLG (1st)
.888 OPS (1st)
154 wRC+ (1st)
235 hits (4th)

Down on the Farm 🌾

OF Wily Fañas (Low-A STL): 2-for-4, 2B, 2 RBI, 2 R
RHP Jonah Tong (no. 20 prospect, High-A BRK): 6 IP, 3 H, 1 ER, 3 H, 1 BB, 11 K
INF Brett Baty (Triple-A SYR): 3-for-5, 2 HR, 2 RBI, 2 R
Over his last 35 games with Triple-A Syracuse, Luisangel Acuña has hit .324/.377/.426 with 7 doubles, 1 triple, 2 home runs, 17 RBI, 12 BB, 29 runs scored, 48 hits.

BOX SCORES

Single-A STL | High-A BRK | Double-A BNG (PPD) | Triple-A SYR

Today’s Game 🗓

The Mets are off today. They open a three-game series with the Astros on Friday at Citi Field.

Ok, NOW we can start to talk about a playoff race! ✍️

Night and day from a month ago.

The date was May 31. The Dodgers left town having flushed them down the toilet with an ugly and embarrassing three-game sweep, having been outscored 18-5 in that series.

The Mets were 23-33 on the year on that date, at which point Mets President of Baseball Operations David Stearns showed up for work that day at Citi Field and turned things upside down for the club, the non-physical version of a manager or general manager walking into a clubhouse and losing a screw.

He had seen enough of his floundering club, a club which both he and team owner Steve Cohen continually touted as a playoff club even as they were in the midst of a free fall, losers of 23 of their last 33 games.

So, out went Omar Narváez, in came Luis Torrens. Out went Brett Baty, in came Luis Torrens. The Mets sent Jorge López packing after his tirade both on the field and in the clubhouse just the day before. The Mets also sent Christian Scott back to the minors on what was originally a temporary basis although he has not yet been recalled (no real need at the moment).

Indeed, it was enough. It was time for changes. The club simply could not continue going back to the well with what was here. It wasn’t working. Bold and decisive changes had been made with Mark Vientos being given the keys to third base, Torrens getting the backup catcher role, and Dedniel Núñez taking over for López in the bullpen.

From there, the Mets have been a different club.

Perhaps Stearns sent a message with these roster moves, that message being if you’re not performing, you’re not going to be here. Perhaps it was the team meeting led by the club’s veterans which introduced or reinforced the need for accountability in the room among the players.

Maybe it was both.

In the end, the Mets have gone 17-6 since May 30, the day the sent López packing and the day sweeping changes came for this roster. They are leading baseball in every major offensive category since that date. They just scored 21 runs in two games against baseball’s best team in the Yankees, knocking their ace out of one game as part of that process.

These are the new, fearless Mets, a club that was once 22-33 and is now 39-39, back at .500 for the first time in nearly two months.

The Mets have had a lot of bad years filled with small moments which make one believe they can actually dig themselves out of the holes they create for themselves. Most of the time, they end up back in that hole, which is why I always say it is silly to talk about any sort of playoff race until they get their heads at or above water, that being the .500 mark.

Well, the Mets are back at .500. We can talk about the playoff race now. We can talk about the Mets being buyers rather than sellers.

We can talk about the Mets needing to keep Pete Alonso rather than them trying to maximize value in return for him in a month. We can talk about the Mets figuring out how to sustain what they have in Luis Severino, when Kodai Senga might figure into this journey, and what the Mets might need to augment their pitching Staffa. month from now when the trade deadline arrives.

.500 changes the entire conversation.

They’re 1.5 games behind the Padres for the third wild card spot. They’ve jumped everyone else in the race, once being the third or fourth worst team in the league to one of only 15 teams in baseball at .500 or better as play begins today.

There is still a long way to go, and for the time being they will be without three important players: Edwin Díaz, Starling Marte and Drew Smith. Díaz will be back in just over a week but it could be a while for the other two.

They’re going to need help in that bullpen specifically when the trade deadline approaches. For now, they will just need to tread water and find a way to get there.

There’s a certain oomph to this team which hasn’t existed since the 2022 season. The fire is back, the energy is back, that hunger seems to be back. Of course, it’s easy to say that when the team is playing on another world which is what the Mets are doing. And yes, it’s just a month of quality play after two months of abhorrent play.

But it just looks and feels different with this team right now. They finally appear to be playing with an expectation to win, rather than just waiting for things to happen to them.

I think Francisco Álvarez has a lot to do with it.

They’re 22-3 in games he’s played in this season since April 4. That’s just insane. His value to this team and to any game he plays in is demonstrated in that statistic alone. He has been worth 1.3 bWAR in only 30 games this season. But he brings an attitude and a leadership quality which like nothing they otherwise have here.

Not bad for a 22 year old.

Around the League 🚩

The Astros won their seventh game in a row with a 7-1 drubbing of the Rockies
Shohei Ohtani homered to give him an RBI in ten straight games as the Dodgers shutout the lowly White Sox 4-0
Jackson Chourio hit an inside-the-park home run as the Brewers walked off the Rangers 6-5