Author: Ashley Munson
The New York Mets have bounced back from their defeat at the hands of the Philadelphia Phillies in ruthless fashion with four straight wins – the last two of the series by very comfortable margins – over the Arizona Diamondbacks.
Given the demolition jobs that took place at Citi Field on Wednesday and Thursday the Mets have to be considered serious contenders for the play-off spot they so desperately crave.
Wednesday was a particularly emotional game given the date – September 11th – and not only did the Mets show their quality on the ball field but off it as well. Here are five things we can take from the one-sided affair.
5 – A HUNGER FOR HOMERS
On Wednesday two Mets hitters – Todd Frazier and Jeff McNeil – landed a brace of home runs to remarkably take the team to a position of having four stars on 20 or more homers for the season, which is something that has only been achieved three times in their history. With such depth in their batting ranks who are capable of scoring in the big moments they have a real chance of outscoring their opponents as they look to cement their play-off place.
4 – THE DIAMONDBACKS SLIPPING BACK
The visitors to Citi Field had fought their way into play-off contention with an impressive run of form with 11 wins from 13 ahead of this series but after three narrow losses – one to the Cincinnati Reds and two at the hands of the Mets – on the bounce it will need a strong reaction to respond to a further two losses, especially considering they were such heavy beatings. The latest drubbing made it a series whitewash and five back to back losses is a huge wobble for the one time World Series winners. Will the bounce back?
3 – MATZ AT THE MOUND
We’ve already spoken about the importance of scoring but if you can back that up with some strong pitching then you’re going to win more than you lose; with Stevan Matz the Mets have a man who – certainly at home – is in his element at the moment. During the match on Wednesday with the Diamondbacks he registered an ERA of 3.84 and, in doing so, made a comfortable affair an extremely easy one for his teammates.
2 – FROM DIAMONDBACKS TO DODGERS
As the series with the Diamondbacks is now finished the Mets turn their attention to West division leaders the LA Dodgers to. The Dodgers might be sitting pretty at the moment but they’re not on the best run of form. They’ve recently lost a four-game series 3-1 against the Diamondbacks. If that’s anything to read into then it all looks set for the Mets to extend their winning run.
1 – NEVER FORGET
Regardless of the passion you have for Baseball, Basketball, college football rankings, Soccer or any other sport it’s put into perspective when you reflect on the tragedy of 9/11 and the Mets paid a terrific tribute to all those affected by that fateful day. Pete Alonso took it upon himself to organise special trainers for his teammates, which were subtly emblazoned with ”Never Forget’.
Both sets of players sported headwear resembling first responders in the warm up sessions and there was a coming together with the respective arms of the emergency services for the national anthem. They may be small things but it’s a display of care, compassion and class and that was more important in many ways than what actually took place on the field.
There you have it, the Mets turned in a set of classy performances over the series but the highlight will be the even classier tribute in respect of 9/11 and, on the baseball front, the play-off fight is well and truly on.
