Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice...
The Mets offense breaks out for a sweep of the Marlins and four straight wins. Plus, how it's still too soon to buy into this latest hot stretch.
What’s Up with the Mets? ⚾️
The Mets won their fourth straight game on Sunday, blowing out the Marlins by a 10-1 score (box)
LF Juan Soto went 2-for-4 with a grand slam in the victory
Soto is now batting .382/.469/.873 with nine home runs, 18 RBI, 16 runs scored, four stolen bases and a 1.369 OPS over his last 15 games played
RHP Nolan McLean still looked rocky but gutted through five innings, allowing just a run on two hits and five walks with a pair of strikeouts
RF Carson Benge blasted a leadoff home run (4) in the game, his first career home run against a left-handed pitcher
2B Marcus Semien had a big day at the plate going 2-for-2 with a home run (5), two RBI, two walks and two runs scored
LHP David Peterson pitched the rest of the way for New York and was credited with a save thanks to a four-run effort in relief, allowing no runs and just two base runners
Play of the Game ⭐️
You probably thought I was going to put Juan Soto’s grand slam here and just call it a day but there was a moment in this game that acted as a far bigger pendulum swing, in my opinion.
With the Mets leading 3-1 in the 4th inning, Luis Torrens had a big opportunity with the bases loaded and two outs. Moments like this – where the Mets have a chance to take a tight, butt-clenching game and turn it into a laugher – have so often eluded them this year. Who knows how many more games the Mets could’ve eeked out this year with a couple extra well-timed hits in situations much like this.
Unlike so many of those past moments, however, Torrens was able to deliver with an opposite field single to drive in two and extend the Mets lead to 5-1. This gave Nolan McLean and the team as a whole room to breathe, and they never looked back.
Just Mets Podcast 🎙️
On the latest episode of The Just Mets Podcast, Rich and Andrew finally get to recap a happy week as the Mets put together four straight wins!
SUBSCRIBE: YouTube | Apple Podcasts | Spotify
Down on the Farm 🌾
1B Ryan Clifford (No. 3 prospect, Triple-A): 2-for-4, HR (13), BB, 2 R
CF Nick Morabito (No. 11 prospect, Triple-A): 2-for-4, HR (5), 3 RBI, BB
LHP Jonathan Santucci (No. 8 prospect, Double-A): 5 IP, 3 H, 0 R, BB, 5 K
BOX SCORES
Single-A STL | High-A BRK | Double-A BNG | Triple-A SYR
Today’s Game 🗓
Match-up: Mets (26-33) at Mariners (31-29)
Where: T-Mobile Park – Seattle, WA
Starters: RHP Austin Warren (1-1, 1.40 ERA) vs. RHP Emerson Hancock (4-2, 2.78 ERA)
When: 9:40 PM EDT
Where to Watch: SNY
I’m not ready to fall for the latest glimmer of Mets hopium ✍️
The Mets looked like a significantly more competent baseball team over the weekend. They drubbed the Marlins over their three-game set, scoring a total of 25 runs in the process – a far cry from the two runs they scored against Miami the weekend prior – on their way to a sweep of the series and their fourth consecutive win.
Hits with runners in scoring position, grand slams, timely defensive plays, walk-off hits. Dare I say it… I actually had fun!
All that being said, I am nowhere close to allowing myself to fall for this latest glimmer of Mets hope. At least not yet.
I said it on Sunday night’s weekly recap podcast, but I’m viewing this weekend (and the four-game winning streak) with the same takeaway that I had for The Mandalorian and Grogu, which I also saw over the weekend: I was entertained, I enjoyed watching it, but it in no way makes any sort of impact on the larger story at play here.
I’m glad that the Mets played better. I’m certainly glad that they finally gave the Marlins a taste of their own damn medicine for once. But a four-game win streak against the lesser teams in the National League isn’t enough for me to think that this team has begun to turn any sort of corner.
I’ve already fallen for that trap multiple times this season, no more recently than when the team won six of seven in far more convincing fashion with a sweep vs. the Tigers, a Subway Series victory capped with the team’s first 9th inning comeback in two years, and a 10-run extra inning outburst vs. Washington. If this sounds familiar to you, that’s because this was literally only two weeks ago.
I think a lot of people were joining me in my newfound hope and optimism that the team had begun to turn a corner thanks in large part to their recent injection of youth with A.J. Ewing getting called up and Carson Benge ascending. And, as the Mets so often do, they rewarded that hope by quickly losing seven of their next eight games including a five-game losing skid.
Once that happened, I made a pretty firm decision that I wasn’t going to allow this team to suck me back in until they’ve shown me something more substantial. In seasons such as these, I think every fan needs to make their own mark in the sand of what that moment will be. For me, I think it’s getting back to a .500 record.
If the Mets can somehow, some way even their record after falling 11 games under .500 at multiple different times during these first two months, that would be enough for me to think that some sort of season could still be had here. But even after a four-game winning streak, and a month of May that actually saw the team compile a 16-12 record, they still have a ton of work to do.
For now I’m just going to enjoy the wins as they come, and set any sort of expectations to the side.
Oh, and watching that Juan Soto guy is pretty fun, too.
Around the League 🚩
Mariners DH Victor Robles delivered a walk-off infield hit vs the Dbacks to give Seattle their sixth consecutive victory
The Yankees used a 13-run inning – tied for their most runs in an inning in 106 years – to carry them to a massive victory over the A’s
Dodgers RHP Yoshinobu Yamamoto struck out 10 batters and allowed no runs in the club’s 9-1 drubbing over the Phillies
The Reds defeated the Braves by a 6-4 score, but star SS Elly De La Cruz exited the game with hamstring tightness and is set to undergo an MRI
I'm in the same exact mental state as you when it comes to this team.
Yamomoto....another guy the Mets couldn't corral...