The Mets, with a win today over the Orioles, have reeled off seven in a row while climbing to five over .500. They said it could be done…
All through the offseason, the Mets carried a genuine optimism that originated on the day ownership of the team was transferred to Steve Cohen.
But except for the trade bringing Francisco Lindor to the team in a trade with the Indians, and the signing of James McCann, the team’s focus, remained on a lineup of players who had tasted the spirit of winning, only to be disappointed in the end.
With Jacob deGrom leading the way, Mets pitching held the team together as it flittered up and down from the .500 mark. Ironically, every team in the National League East was in the same mode.
But you could sense that sooner or later, there would be a team that breaks from the pack, and surprising or not, it’s the Mets who are doing it.
Mets Breaking From The Pack
Today, it’s Taijuan Walker who goes to the hill with the Mets seeking their seventh straight win, and he goes seven innings while allowing only one run on four hits, raising his record to 3-1 and lowering his ERA to 2.25.
But it’s a cruise up and down the box score of today’s win over the Orioles that show just how far the Mets have come.
Just take a peek at the Met’s performance with runners in scoring position. Dominic Smith 3-3, newcomer Jose Peraza 2-2, a player who until today had two walk-offs in Mets wins to his credit – without the benefit of a base hit.
The Mets are running, too, with stolen bases credited to Lindor and Kevin Pillar, who also contributed two RBI.
Seven of the first eight hitters in the Mets lineup had a base hit or more.
This is what happens when a team begins to gel where contributions come from everywhere, and everything seems to click, even the once shoddy defense we’ve seen from the Mets this year.
Oh, you can say the Mets are fattening up on sub-par teams like the Diamondbacks and Orioles, except for the fact that this is what good teams are supposed to do, and the Mets are doing it!
Mets: Another Test Is On The Way
As always in baseball, though, a test of another kind is brewing on the Mets schedule with an interleague series against the Tampa Bay Rays and back to the NL East with the Atlanta Braves – all on the road after an off-day tomorrow.
After pounding out ten hits today in their 7-1 win over the Orioles, the hope is the hitting will continue, and the pitching will overcome the loss of Jacob deGrom’s one start with up to the task performances like the one we saw today from Walker and the bullpen to close it out.
Joe Maddon always says a team is only as good as their record says they are, and as of today, the Mets are the best team in the NL East.
That’s a mighty accomplishment from the dog-days of the offseason when optimism and empty words could only be heard in the absence of games played.
Others will say, enjoy it while it lasts. I choose, instead, to say I’m enjoying it because it will last.
Here’s What Readers Are Saying…
Terry Cerullo Impressive when you think of the current injury list. In past years lack of depth destroyed the team
Jeff Chrzanowski I love the way Walker just pounds the lower strike zone.
Baseball, it is said, is only a game. True. And the Grand Canyon is only a hole in Arizona. Not all holes, or games, are created equal.
