Mets bounce back with a bang, show off their resiliency in a 19-5 rout of the Nats
Brandon Nimmo tied a club record with 9 RBI, Griffin Canning was spotless over five innings, and the Mets head home with the best record in the sport
What’s up with the Mets? ⚾
The Mets pummeled the Nationals 19-5 in Washington on Monday to earn a split of their four-game series (box | highlights)
Brandon Nimmo had the game of his life, going 4-for-6 with two home runs - including a grand slam - and 9 RBI which tied a single-game club record and became only the second Met to ever post 9 RBI in a game (Carlos Delgado vs. NYY, 2008)
Both Mark Vientos and Jeff McNeil homered and drove in three on the day
Eight Mets had at least two hits on the day
Griffin Canning started for the Mets and was brilliant once again as he twirled five shutout innings to lower his ERA for the season to 2.61
The Mets went 10-for-17 with runners in scoring position, and they are the first team in MLB to reach the 20-win mark in 2025
Injury Updates 🏥
Paul Blackburn (knee soreness) has recently been sidelined by an illness, but is expected to throw a bullpen session at Citi Field today
Stat of the Day 📊
Per Elias, since 1920, Brandon Nimmo is the second player in MLB history to record 9 RBI in the sixth inning or later of a game (Mike Moustakas, 2015)
Who’s Hot? 🔥
RHP Griffin Canning has allowed two runs or less in five of his first six starts of the season. He has allowed one run or less in four of his six starts
Over his last 26 games, Pete Alonso has hit .358/.466/.684 with 34 hits, 11 doubles, a triple, six home runs and 27 RBI with 20 runs scored
Play of the Game ⭐️
As part of a 9 RBI afternoon, Brandon Nimmo hit a grand slam with one out in the seventh inning on Monday en route to tying a club record for RBI in a single game. He joined Carlos Delgado (2008) as the only players in club history to notch 9 RBI in a game:
Down on the Farm 🌾
All Mets minor league affiliates were off on Monday.
Today’s Game 🗓️
Match-up: Mets (20-9) vs. Diamondbacks (15-13)
Where: Citi Field - Flushing, New York
Starters: LHP David Peterson (1-1, 3.29 ERA) vs. LHP Eduardo Rodriguez (1-2, 4.40 ERA)
When: 7:10 PM EDT
Where to Watch: SNY
The Mets might’ve shown off their greatest asset of all on Monday… ✍️
Now, that’s how you bounce back!
I am not going to sit here and pretend the Mets’ weekend in Washington was all peaches and cream. They blew two games late thanks in part to some flubby outfield work, poor pitching out of the bullpen, and not (necessarily anyway) having Edwin Díaz available in two of the three games. It was a weekend the Mets absolutely should’ve run the table against the Nationals - there’s no question about it.
But sometimes, for good teams anyway, a gut punch is what they need.
After all, the Mets have more or less been rolling since the start of the season, sporting the best record in baseball over the first month despite a lot of injuries and an offense operating on half of its cylinders.
It’s sort of like a reality check. This is Major League Baseball and despite a team’s record, they’re pros and the best at what they do and there really are no pushovers in professional sports.
The theme of the weekend for the Mets was resiliency. How would they respond to a brutal loss on Friday, and an even more brutal loss on Sunday? Lesser Met teams of the past might’ve been swept this weekend.
Not these Mets.
On each occasion, the Mets responded with a shutdown performance from their pitching staff which, outside of this weekend anyway, has been generally shutdown all year. They’ve posted the best team ERA in the sport through the season’s first 30 days, which is amazing considering how concerned we all were about the rotation (less so for the bullpen, which I think we could all agree was a strength coming in).
And on Monday in particular, the Mets not only shut off the Nationals (forget José Urena’s inning-eating leak), they ensured there was absolutely no way they were leaving Washington with a series loss and to a second-division team at that.
Brandon Nimmo was the human highlight reel for the Mets on Monday. He had the game of his life but most importantly showed a pulse at the plate. Juan Soto had a nice afternoon, Jeff McNeil showed off that successful approach from the second half in 2024 and powered up in the process.
With McNeil and Francisco Álvarez in there, the lineup is unquestionably longer, unquestionably deeper, and unquestionably more potent even at the expense of some defense.
Sure, it was the Nationals, but that’s not as bad as a team as they have been in the recent past, either.
That resiliency is a clear-cut difference between what a good team is and what a bad team is. The Mets took one where the sun doesn’t shine twice and bounced back. They showed an ability to flush a poor and embarrassing performance and immediately respond with their best performance of the season. That starts inside the room with the manager and the coaching staff and the culture they’ve created for these players.
Everyone on any team knows those kinds of games are going to happen over the course of a long season, even against teams one might not expect it to. But this group knows how to flush it and not let it snowball, unlike some other managers and groups of players they’ve had previously.
Saturday and Monday were proof. Sure, they would’ve liked to be able to close out those games. They’d be 22-7 if they had. But they’re still charging forward with the game’s best record at 20-9, a 4.5-game lead in the NL East, and a roster that is getting more complete as they get deeper into the schedule.
Perhaps the way they split this series helped define their identity for the season.
Around the League 🚩
Bryce Elder gave Atlanta six strong innings and Michael Harris II drove in two runs as the Braves continued their ascent with a 6-3 win over the Rockies
Ryan Jeffers drove in three runs and Ty France drove in two while Bailey Ober pitched into the eighth inning in the Twins 11-1 rout of the Guardians
Tomoyuki Sugano gave the Orioles five scoreless innings as they edged the Yankees 4-3
Tommy Edman drove in a run with a single in the tenth inning as the Dodgers walked off the Marlins 7-6
Let's hope this game serves as a jumping off point for the Brandon Nimmo we've known, it would make a huge difference. Especially because I'm starting to hear the footsteps of that team in Atlanta...
We needed that one!