The Mets won their third consecutive series and their fourth series overall this week as they swept the Braves in three games. They’ve now won 11 straight games for the first time since June, 1990.
The last time the Mets swept Atlanta in a three-game series in New York was April 5-8, 2012. It was the first time the Mets swept a three-game set from the Braves since September 19-21, 2014 at Atlanta.
The Mets are now 23-21 against Atlanta since the start of the 2013 season.
Here is a look at the Mets sweep of the Braves statistically…
- The Mets notched five extra-base hits in this series, although only one of which was a home run.
- The Mets 9-for-31 with runners in scoring position against the Braves this week.
- Wilmer Flores had a big series against Atlanta – he went 5-for-12 with a home run, two RBI and three runs scored.
- Curtis Granderson recorded his first extra-base hit and RBI in this series – overall, he went 4-for-9 with a double, two walks, three runs scored and four RBI.
- Michael Cuddyer scored twice, walked three times and drove in a run, but went 0-for-10 at the plate.
- The Mets outscored the Braves 16-6 in the three games – they saw 471 pitches in the three games, an average of 157 per game.
- The Mets defense turned four double plays in the three games against Atlanta.
- Mets starting pitching had a 2.75 ERA over the three games, allowing just five walks with 13 strikeouts in 19 2/3 innings.
- The Mets bullpen was stellar over the three games – they did not allow a run over 7 1/3 innings with only two hits, four walks and seven strikeouts.
- Jeurys Familia recorded two saves in this series – he now leads the league with eight saves, all of which have come in the last ten days.
Mets were outstanding on the mound, top to bottom.
As has been the case throughout this incredible run, the Mets got fantastic pitching throughout the three-game series. They got three very gritty efforts from Jon Niese, Dillon Gee and Bartolo Colon, all three of which pitched at least six innings and combining for just five walks between them.
The starting pitching helped to shorten the game for the Mets make-shift bullpen, which was more or less lights out all week. They only allowed two hits and fanned seven in 7 1/3 innings, highlighted by utter dominance by Jeurys Familia to close out two of the three wins.
The staff as a whole only allowed nine walks in 27 innings this week, although the bullpen struggled a bit in that department, having allowed four of those nine walks. But for the most part, they got big outs thanks to a few huge double plays behind them, and didn’t allow many hits which helped mitigate some of the control problems. All-in-all, it was an impressive and inspiring week for the pitching staff.
The offense was clutch.
The Mets got some huge hits which not only allowed the Mets to claw back in this series, but enabled them to tack on against the Braves, something which can be so important for the team and the pitching staff in particular. They had some outstanding plate appearances, battling back from 0-2 on numerous occasions on Thursday in particular, and they saw a ton of pitches which forced the Atlanta pitchers to throw under duress for much of the series. Daniel Murphy, Wilmer Flores, and Curtis Granderson highlighted the Mets clutch hitting this week, and they were the general forces in the lineup for the Mets in general throughout the three games.
The Mets defense wasn’t pretty at times, but it came up huge when necessary.
The team’s defense is easily the weakest part of the team, and some of those problems reared their ugly head on Thursday. But generally speaking, the Mets defense was tremendous this week, highlighted by Juan Lagares’ incredible catch in the seventh inning on Thursday night.
That catch, along with the double plays they turned on Thursday in particular changed the complexion of the game, and quite possibly affected the outcome for the Mets.
They’re winning in a lot of different ways.
When a club wins 11 in a row, there can’t be a single way they’re getting it done. In the Mets case in this series, they got outstanding pitching, played good defense, were outstanding hitting situationally, hit for extra-bases, worked pitchers to death, and ran the bases well. All of these helped them to overcome a lot of situations multiple times during this series – their execution was more or less flawless, maybe except for one or two instances this week.
They’re not a one-dimensional team right now and that’s what’s made them a special club so far in 2015. It’s been a lot of fun to watch this team win with style and win with character. It’s something the Mets haven’t been able to do consistently for a long time. The hope is they can maintain this formula and continue to bide their time while they wait for David Wright, Travis d’Arnaud, Vic Black, Bobby Parnell and later Jerry Blevins return.
Just Mets 