The Mets won for the ninth consecutive game on Tuesday night, defeating the Braves by the score of 7-1 at Citi Field. Here are my takeaways from tonight’s win…
A blue collar win for Jon Niese.
He wasn’t dominant by any means, but Niese really pitched himself a fine ballgame on Tuesday. He worked in an out of trouble all night but was able to get the big outs when he needed to. He issued four walks but thankfully was able to retire the leadoff hitter in six of his seven innings tonight, which really helped him dodge some major bullets.
Niese had to work hard on Tuesday, but he found a way like a good veteran should do, and gave his offense the time it needed to get going against Trevor Cahill and the rest of the Braves staff.
A happy debut for Kevin Plawecki.
He lined out to Freddie Freeman in his first at-bat, but singled in his next at-bat for his first big league hit. He also singled to the opposite field in the eighth inning. He has a quick, short stroke and has good pitch recognition, which helps reduce the number of strikeouts he racks up. That was all on display in what was a successful debut at the plate.
But, he was also impressive with the glove. He also blocked a couple of balls in the dirt using excellent mechanics, and threw a seed to to second base to gun down Andrelton Simmons to end the sixth. He’s cool as a cucumber out there and didn’t look or seem overwhelmed at all during his debut.
Plawecki is going to play a lot while Travis d’Arnaud waits for his broken hand to heal, but he seems poised to pay immediate dividends for the Mets during d’Arnaud’s absence.
No more bad luck for Curtis Granderson.
Granderson has been hitting the ball hard all year, making good contact and hitting line drives, yet the balls were just not falling in his favor. But tonight, it changed for Granderson. He had two singles and a double, driving in his first four runs of the year and getting his first extra-base hit of the season as well.
Given the hard luck Granderson was finding, a night like this was just a matter of time for him. The approach has been consistent and sound, so I wasn’t worried. Hopefully this is the start of some good fortunes for Granderson.
Crooked numbers are the in-thing for the Mets.
They put up a seven-spot in the fourth inning on Sunday, and a four-spot in the fifth inning on Tuesday. They’ve been incredible so far this season with the bases loaded, and they did it yet again in the fifth inning tonight with a run scoring groundout (and an E4) from Niese, and two-run single by Granderson. They kept the train moving with an RBI single from Juan Lagares to cap the four-run frame and give the Mets a big and comfortable lead.
They’ve done this so often during this winning streak, and they’ve done a good job overall tacking on runs to widen the gap in these games. They’re getting a lot of breaks – there’s no question about that. But, teams don’t win nine in a row without getting good breaks.
Alex Torres comes through in a big spot.
Alex Torres has inherited a lefty specialist role, even though he’s not a natural left-handed specialist. He was given his second big test as the Mets attempt to re-shape their bullpen, been thrown into the fire to face Freeman with two outs and two on in the seventh. The sequence didn’t start well – he threw two balls way up and out of the zone, but then came in with two filthy change-ups which just fell off the table. Then, he snuck a fastball by Freeman on the inner half and just froze him to end the threat.
Torres is wild, but he’s effectively wild and very unpredictable as a result. A lot is being asked of him now that Jerry Blevins is out for a while, but so far, so good for the newly acquired Torres.
Mets keep winning and with inspiration.
As I said, just about everything is going right for the Mets. What’s more, their roster keeps fluctuating thanks to these injuries. They’re winning, but winning convincingly and with a level of authority in these games. The starting pitching is really good, they’re relentless when given opportunities offensively, and the bullpen – outside of one or two instances during this stretch – has been rock solid and gotten huge outs to put out fires late in games.
I surely hope the winning can be sustained while they wait for these injured players to get back. They’re in great shape despite all of the adversity, which is unquestionably helping to build character and keep this team together during some very tough times.
Other notes from Tuesday:
Carlos Torres bounced back from a rough outing on Saturday with a 1-2-3 ninth inning.
Lucas Duda went 0-for-3 with two walks – he’s now hitless in his last nine at-bats.
With the three RBI tonight, Granderson drove in his first three runs of the season. He raised his average from .146 to .178 for the year.
Daniel Murphy continued his early season cold spell with an 0-for-4 at the dish.
Michael Cuddyer went 0-for-4 with a walk – his seven game hitting streak ended on Tuesday.
Lagares extended his hitting streak to eight games with a single and two RBI on the night.
The Mets 11-3 record is tied for the best start in club history. The last time the Mets started 11-3 was 1986.
The last time the Mets had a 2 1/2 game lead in the National League East was in 2008.
The last time the Mets had a nine-game winning streak was also in 2008.
Here is a video of Plawecki’s first big league hit on Tuesday:
Just Mets 