After four games without their biggest offensive driver, the Mets are producing more than enough runs to win in his absence.
The bats have absolutely exploded at Citi Field this week, with the Mets having scored 10 runs in three consecutive nights. They crushed four home runs and a triple off the Philadelphia Phillies in a 10-6 series-opening win Thursday night.
The Atlanta Braves (83-70) had a similarly explosive offensive night in Cincinnati, beating the Reds, 15-3, to remain two games behind the Mets (85-68) in the NL Wild Card standings. The Arizona Diamondbacks (85-68) won, 5-1, in Milwaukee to stay tied with the Mets. However, the Amazins’ have the tiebreaker, thanks to a series win last month in Phoenix.
The Mets hit four home runs and held off a seventh-inning rally, with Luisangel Acuña hitting an RBI triple in the bottom of the seventh, right after the bullpen gave up three runs in the top.
Former Mets right-hander Taijuan Walker gave up home runs to Mark Vientos, Pete Alonso, Brandon Nimmo and Francisco Alvarez, who hit a massive three-run shot in a five-run fourth inning.
The Mets were up by just a single run, 4-3, after Luis Severino gave up a game-tying two-run homer to Trea Turner in the third, and an RBI single to Brandon Marsh in the top of the fourth. Walker then put the first two runners on in the bottom of the inning, setting the stage for Alvarez’s theatrics.
The catcher got ahold of a sinker and sent it 421 feet to the second deck in left field to give the Mets a 7-3 lead. There was no doubt the ball was leaving the yard the instant it hit the bat.
Jose Iglesias, hitting leadoff in place of the injured Francisco Lindor, then beat out an infield single with one out, prompting the Phillies to give Walker the hook. But then Nimmo hit a double off right-handed reliever Jose Ruiz and Iglesias hustled to score from first. A single to center by Vientos scored Nimmo and the Mets put six runs in between them and their NL East rivals.
Last weekend in Philadelphia, the Phillies (91-62) used Walker for three innings in relief to defeat the Mets. This time out, the Mets handed him a loss (3-7) after scoring eight runs off six hits against him over 3 1/3 innings.
Severino (11-6) had a solid outing, limiting the Phillies to three earned runs on five hits over six innings, walking two and striking out seven.
Vientos and Alonso went back-to-back with two-out home runs in the first inning, but Marsh’s homer evened the score at 2-2 in the third. Nimmo hit a go-ahead two-run homer in the bottom of the third.
Left-hander Danny Young faced traffic on the basepaths in the seventh, loading the bases with none out. After the Phillies pushed one across, Reed Garrett gave up a two-run double to Bryce Harper, bringing the visitors back to within three.
The small things paved the way for Acuña’s big hit. Left-hander Jose Alvarado walked Tyrone Taylor to lead off. Alvarez then hit what should have been a double-play ground-ball, but Taylor’s baserunning forced second baseman Bryson Stott to throw off balance to first base, pulling Harper off the bag.
Then came Acuña’s triple, and scoreless innings by Ryne Stanek and Edwin Diaz. The Mets are getting big hits and big pitching performances, and doing the small things right to make sure the big plays count.