For the first time this season, the Mets are 10 games above .500.
More significantly, the Mets are back to within a half-game of a playoff spot.
Those were the results of the Mets’ 4-1 victory over the Red Sox on Monday night, kicking off a crucial six-game homestand while extending their win streak to five games.
Luis Severino continued to come up big during the Mets’ playoff push, hurling seven innings of one-run ball against one of the better offenses in baseball.
“We have to win every game,” Severino said afterward. “We are really close to being in a playoff spot. From now on, every time they give me the ball, this is a chance for me to get my team closer to the playoffs.”
Indeed, the Mets (74-64) gained ground on the Braves (74-63), who were off Monday. The Mets trailed Atlanta by four games for the third and final NL Wild Card spot as recently as Wednesday but have not lost since, closing the gap with 24 games left to play.
Severino used six different pitches to keep Boston off balance, prominently featuring three fastball variations, including a four-seamer he dialed up to 98 mph. He recorded five strikeouts, including two with that four-seamer and another with his cutter.
He improved to 3-0 with a 2.10 ERA over his last four starts, providing a big-game presence in a rotation that remains without ace Kodai Senga and promising rookie Christian Scott.
Severino is now 10-6 this season, marking his first year with double-digit victories since he went 19-8 as a member of the Yankees in 2018.
The 30-year-old right-hander spent his first eight MLB seasons with the Yankees, repeatedly dealing with injuries over the last five years before signing with the Mets in the offseason.
“If you asked me in spring training if I was going to be at 150-something innings right now, I would say no chance,” Severino said, crediting the Mets’ training and nutrition staff for helping him stay healthy.
“I was not a good sleeper, so changing that, and also with the work in the gym, in the training room and just not going crazy on the day that I need to pitch, eating some from fried food or stuff like that, and understanding that I’m not 21, 22 anymore. I think having that thought in my mind and just worrying about my health, my body, has been really good for me.”
Monday was Severino’s first time facing the Red Sox with the Mets. He made 16 appearances — including 14 starts — against Boston as a Yankee, including his MLB debut in 2015.
He has now pitched 89 innings against Boston — his most versus any opponent — and boasts a 3.84 ERA in those 17 games.
“I’ve always been in New York,” Severino said of his affinity for pitching in big games. “I don’t know any other way. Every time Boston comes to New York, it’s a big game for us.”
The Mets got on the board first Monday with Starling Marte’s run-scoring double-play groundout against Red Sox starter Brayan Bello in the second inning.
Brandon Nimmo added an RBI double in the third, while Francisco Lindor’s RBI single capped a two-run fourth.
Since they fell a season-worst 11 games below .500 on May 29, the Mets are 52-31.
“What a story, right?” manager Carlos Mendoza said. “Proud of the guys. There’s been a lot of ups and downs, but we never quit. We never gave up. We always continued to believe. We knew we had a good room. We knew we had good players. It was just a matter of time.
“Here we are playing meaningful games in September,” Mendoza said, “but we haven’t done anything.”
Originally Published: