Mets sweep the Cardinals out of New York with strong defense, clutch hitting
Also, buckle up, as the Mets and Phillies renew acquaintances with a three-game set at Citi Field this week
What’s up with the Mets? ⚾
The Mets finished a four game weekend sweep of the Cardinals on Easter Sunday, defeating St. Louis by the score of 7-4 (box | highlights)
Clay Holmes started for the Mets and pitched well, surrendering just a single run on four hits and two walks over six innings
José Butto allowed two runners he inherited from Danny Young in the 7th to score, but ended up earning the win when the Mets rallied in the bottom of the frame
Francisco Lindor led off the bottom of the first with his 3rd home run of the season, one of three hits he would collect on the day
Juan Soto went 2-for-3 and drove in three runs, a season-high, and Luisangel Acuña and Tyrone Taylor both had multi-hit games
The Mets went 4-for-13 with runners in scoring position, and drove in four runs with two outs on Sunday
Prior to Sunday’s game, Mets manager Carlos Mendoza indicated that both Francisco Álvarez and Jeff McNeil will continue their rehab assignments into this week and will not rejoin the team for the series against the Phillies
Injury Updates 🏥
Jeff McNeil (strained oblique) went 4-for-4 with a double, home run, RBI and two runs scored for Double-A Binghamton on Sunday
Francisco Álvarez (fractured hand) went 1-for-5 as the designated hitter for Double-A Binghamton on Sunday
Play of the Game ⭐️
With two outs in the sixth inning, Brandon Nimmo robbed Jordan Walker of a solo home run with a leaping catch at the left field wall, keeping it a two-run game:
Who’s Hot? 🔥
In the four-game series with the Cardinals, Francisco Lindor went 7-for-18 (.389/.389/.722) with two home runs and three RBI. He is hitting .450/.476/.900 with three doubles and two home runs as the first batter of the game, he leads the majors in extra-base hits as the first batter of the game, and is one of nine players in the majors with multiple lead-off homers this season. He has hits in eight of his last nine games and is hitting .333/.395/.538 with two doubles, two home runs and four RBI during that span
After a semi slow start to his season, Juan Soto has quietly contributed five hits in his last three games and hit .385/.471/.462 in the four-game series against the Cardinals
Luisangel Acuña has an eight-game hitting streak, during which he is hitting .393/.452/.536 with four doubles, five stolen bases, 11 hits, three walks and eight runs scored
Pete Alonso has hits in six of his last seven games, during which he has hit .400/.500/.840 with ten hits, three doubles, a triple, two home runs, six RBI, five walks, and four runs scored. His 24 RBI, 1.171 OPS and 218 wRC+ lead the National League
Stats of the Day 📊
Pete Alonso has joined Jeff Kent (26 RBI in 1994) as the only players in franchise history to record as many RBI through the team’s first 22 games
The Mets are 9-1 at home to start the year. There are two times in franchise history the club has started 9-1 or better at home: 1986 (9-1) and 2015 (10-0)
The Mets swept the Cardinals in a four-game series for the first time since April 24-27, 1986 in St. Louis. They have won the season series from the Cardinals for the third straight season, and have won eight straight games against the Cardinals dating back to last year
Down on the Farm 🌾
RHP Blade Tidwell (No. 16 Prospect, Triple-A): 4.1 IP, 0 ER, 2 H, 1 BB, 9 K
OF Drew Gilbert (No. 11 Prospect, Triple-A): 2-for-2, RBI, BB
IF Marco Vargas (Single-A): 4-for-5, HR, 2 RBI, 2 R
BOX SCORES
Single-A STL | High-A BRK | Double-A BNG | Triple-A SYR)
Today’s Game 🗓️
Match-up: Mets (15-7) vs. Phillies (13-9)
Where: Citi Field - Flushing, NY
Starters: RHP Tylor Megill (2-2, 1.40 ERA) vs. RHP Aaron Nola (0-4, 6.65 ERA)
When: 7:10 PM EDT
Where to Watch: SNY
The Mets and Phillies get set to renew acquaintances for the first time in 2025 ✍️
Fresh off a four-game sweep of the Cardinals, the Mets have now won six of their last eight and are convincingly playing their best baseball of the young 2025 season. Which is convenient, considering the most important series of the campaign—to date—begins at Citi Field tonight.
The Philadelphia Phillies come to Queens with a 13-9 record, two games behind the Mets in the NL East. They boast their usual star power, have their rotation lined up nicely for this series, and while it’s far too early to pay any serious amount of attention to the standings, Philly would no doubt like to close the gap with the Mets this week.
On the other side of that coin is the fact that this week represents an excellent—excuse the poor Easter pun—chance for the Mets to win a series against a bitter rival and create a little distance between themselves and the rest of the field in the NL East.
The cities of New York and Philadelphia are bitter rivals in just about everything, but National League Baseball has the potential to head that list in 2025.
The Phillies won the NL East in 2024, and have been in the postseason in each of the last three seasons. The Mets, meanwhile, are arguably the most exciting team in baseball right now, and entered the season coming off a magical run to the NLCS.
On the way to baseball’s final four, New York memorably took out their hated rivals from the south in the NLDS, sending them packing on the strength of an unforgettable Francisco Lindor grand slam in game four.
Losing that series was devastating for the Phillies who truly believed they had a World Series caliber roster, and while they may have finished with a better record in 2024, the Mets had consistently proven to be the better and hotter team during the entirety of the season’s second half.
But right now, all of that is in the past, and 2025 represents a clean slate. The Mets have visions of taking home the NL East crown later this fall and have no intentions of sneaking into the postseason as a Wild Card this time around. They get their first crack at the defending division champions tonight, in what will no doubt be a high-octane next three days in Queens.
LFGM.
Around the League 🚩
The Reds pounded out 25 hits including four from Austin Hays and pummeled the Orioles 24-2
Matt Olson, Drake Baldwin, and Marcell Ozuna all homered in the Braves 6-2 win over the Twins
Miami plated two in top of the 10th to earn a 7-5 extra innings win over the Phillies in the City of Brotherly Love
Max Fried fired 7.2 shutout innings as the Yankees went on to blank the Rays 2-0
Let's rock and roll. It's going to be a heck of a series.
The way things are going, Acuna may lock down second base this series. He's really finding it now. He made the right adjustment in his stance and he's hitting, he's getting comfortable in the field and connecting with Lindor and Pete, and he's our speed on the basepaths.
He's still making rookie mistakes, but that's part of the deal. And he's clearly improving very, very quickly. We got a keeper there.
I'm guessing when the Squirrel comes back he'll be the lefty at second if Mendy thinks he should platoon, maybe be the centerfielder against tough righties. He'll sub for Nimmo when Brandon needs a break to keep the plantar fasciitis from flaring up.
But at this point, I don't want Luisangel on the bench.
So looking forward to this series. LFGM