Mets win sixth straight, have best record in MLB

New York extends their winning streak to six with a 5-1 victory over the Phillies. Plus, how Mets starters are making each other better.

What’s up with the Mets? ⚾

• The Mets won their sixth straight game, defeating the Phillies by a score of 5-1 on Tuesday night (box)

• SS Francisco Lindor continued his hot streak, going 3-for-5 with an RBI and a run scored in the victory

• RHP Griffin Canning pitched around trouble over five effective innings, allowing just one run on seven hits and a walk with five strikeouts

• 3B Mark Vientos returned to the lineup and continued his recent hot hitting, going 1-for-3 with an RBI double, a walk and a run scored

• 1B Pete Alonso went 2-for-4 with a double, an RBI and a run scored – he now leads the National League with 25 RBI this season

• New York’s bullpen was great once again as Huascar Brazobán, A.J. Minter, Ryne Stanek and José Buttó combined to pitch four scoreless innings while allowing just one hit

• C Luis Torrens went 1-for-4 with a clutch two-run single to break the game open in the 7th inning

• The Mets have the best starting rotation ERA in all of baseball (2.29), over a full run higher than the second-best Reds (3.30) (DiComo)

• New York is now 11-1 at Citi Field this season, tied for their best home record ever to start a season (2015)

---

Injury Updates 🏥

• 3B Mark Vientos returned to the starting lineup last night after missing his previous two games due to groin soreness

---

---

Who’s Hot? 🔥

• SS Francisco Lindor is hitting .462/.482/.923 with four home runs, eight RBI, seven runs scored and a 1.405 OPS during the club’s six-game winning streak

---

Play of the Game ⭐️

In a tight 3-1 game in the bottom of the 7th with two outs, manager Carlos Mendoza elected to stick with the struggling Luis Torrens rather than going to a left-handed pinch-hitter. The skipper’s confidence in his backstop was quickly paid off as Torrens, down in the count, ripped a ball into left field for a clutch two-run single as the Mets gave themselves some much-appreciated breathing room.

Torrens had been 1-for-16 at the plate on the homestand prior to this at-bat. With the return of Francisco Álvarez being imminent, it was just as big of a hit for Torrens personally as it was for the Mets as a group.

---

Down on the Farm 🌾

• SS Jett Williams (No. 2 prospect, Double-A): 3-for-5, 3B, 2 RBI, 2 SB (4), 2 runs scored

• RHP Jonah Tong (No. 6 prospect, Double-A): 4.1 IP, 3 H, 2 ER, 3 BB, 9 K

• C Francisco Álvarez (rehab, Triple-A): 0-for-3, BB

• 2B Jeff McNeil (rehab, Triple-A): 0-for-4

BOX SCORES

Single-A STL | High-A BRK | Double-A BNG | Triple-A SYR

---

Today’s Game 🗓️

Match-up: Mets (17-7) vs. Phillies (13-11)

Where: Citi Field — Flushing, NY

Starters: LHP David Peterson (1-1, 3.27 ERA) vs. RHP Zack Wheeler (2-1, 3.73 ERA)

When: 1:10 PM EDT

Where to Watch: SNY, MLB Network

---

Mets pitchers are making each other better ✍️

What the Mets pitching staff has done to start this season has been nothing short of remarkable. In what appears to be yet another common David Stearns masterclass, New York is not only leading the National League in ERA by their starting pitchers but they are over a full run better than the next closest team.

That absurd (and unanticipated) strength was on display yet again as Griffin Canning – the Mets pitching lab’s latest, greatest creation this year – worked around trouble to shut down the Phillies offense over five innings last night. On the year as a whole, Canning now has a 3.12 ERA over five starts. For reference, the lowest ERA Canning has ever had in a single season coming into the year was 3.99, which he did during the COVID-shortened 2020 season.

How do the Mets keep managing to do this? Is Jeremy Hefner a boy genius? Does David Stearns have special abilities?

If you tuned into last night’s telecast on SNY, you actually got a bit of a glimpse into what the Mets are doing when it comes to their pitching.

“We vibe with each other, we pick each other’s brains,” Tylor Megill told the Mets broadcast during Tuesday night’s game. “I was struggling with my change-up early on in my first few starts. I was having some problems with my grip so I was asking Clay [Holmes] on some pointers and whatnot. Literally three days ago I had Clay come down and watch.”

Megill went on to explain that Holmes helped him change the grip on his change-up, an adjustment that he implemented in his most recent start where he had his best performance of the season. The fact that a brand new starting pitcher like Holmes, who didn’t have thrown a change-up before this season, could work openly with one of his new teammates to teach and learn is fantastic to see.

Not only are Mets pitchers helping each other when it comes to their grips and other physical tweaks, but they’re also encouraging vulnerability and teaching in order to promote growth.

“There is so much information for all players, but especially pitchers nowadays,” Steve Gelbs said on the telecast. “So many analytics, so many metrics that even they sometimes don’t know what all of it means.”

Gelbs went on to share a story about how Sean Manaea gathered all of the Mets pitchers at the end of Spring Training, along with the coaching staff, for open conversations. Explaining to pitchers what things like spin axis and tilt are, for example, in order to not only teach but also to make the pitchers in the room feel entirely comfortable with sharing what they know and what they don’t so that they can improve.

“The second game of every homestand, all of the pitchers get together and really talk about whatever they decide is important in that moment,” Gelbs concluded.

It’s really been awesome to watch all of these elements coalesce the way they have in order to get the Mets to this post as the ERA leaders in the league, as well as a tie for the best win-loss record in the sport. Seeing guys like Kodai Senga and Tylor Megill bounce back, David Peterson continuing to develop, and Griffin Canning, who could have been the club’s ninth starter if everyone was healthy, turning his career around.

That doesn’t even begin to mention the bullpen which has been nearly spotless amongst Max Kranick, Ryne Stanek, Huascar Brazobán, A.J. Minter, Reed Garrett, José Buttó, and Edwin Díaz this season, whose collective 1.7 fWAR leads the league.

So, we ask again, how exactly are the Mets doing all of this?

“We bring guys over, we evaluate their strengths, we allow them to pitch to their strengths, and then sprinkling on things here and there,” Megill concluded on SNY. “Heff does a great job … of allowing us to see it – with all the analytics and whatnot and what our pitches do . But then it just gives us free mind when we go out there and trust our stuff.”

---

Around the League 🚩

• Twins CF Byron Buxton made an unbelievable diving catch to save the game as the club defeated the White Sox by a 4-2 score

• Cubs RF Ian Happ ripped a walk-off single in the bottom of the 10th as Chicago out-slugged the Dodgers, 11-10

• Guardians RHP Tanner Bibee made his first quality start of the season in Cleveland’s 3-2 win vs. the Yankees

• Cardinals 2B Nolan Gorman came through with a clutch three-run double late in the team’s 10-4 victory over the Braves