Just Mets

The Mets defeated the Orioles by the score of 3-2 tonight at Citi Field. Here are my takeaways from tonight’s win…

The Mets scored some runs!

Heading into this game, the last time the Mets scored a run was the eighth inning on Friday. It took until the fourth inning, but the Mets strung together three runs thanks to an RBI single by Daniel Murphy and a two run double by Kevin Plawecki. That was it for the scoring tonight, but it felt good to see the Mets break the ice and actually hit the ball with runners in scoring position and with authority at that.

It was like the Mets started breathing again after that inning. They seemed looser, more relaxed, and most importantly people were smiling again. Hopefully the Mets got off the skids tonight.

Wilmer Flores looked a whole lot better.

I really hope tonight was the night we can circle the calendar and say Flores got his act together. He seemed refreshed both in the field and at the plate, but his defense was specifically encouraging tonight. He made the routine plays, and made them with confidence, throwing bullets to first and executing properly on every play hit to him. It’s just one day, but sometimes that’s all it takes, and tonight was a good one for the struggling shortstop.

The amazement of Bartolo Colon.

7 2/3 innings, 1 run, no walks. What else is new?

It was his fifth straight start without a walk, and each start seems to get more amazing for the veteran right-hander. His two-seamer was dancing in off the plate, and he dunked a few sliders in there for some key outs as well. Knowing he had that good movement with the two-seamer allowed him to be aggressive inside, and it helped him out of a big jam in the fourth inning when he got Caleb Joseph swinging on a two-seamer in for a strikeout, and then induced a weak grounder to Travis Snider to get out of it.

He’s a lot of fun to watch, on both sides of the ball. The longer he goes in his career, the more fun and fascinating he gets. He’s a tremendous asset to this pitching staff, and one of the big reasons he’s still on the club right now.

A sigh of relief.

Again, it’s just one day, but this was a much needed victory for the Mets tonight. They did a lot of things right, very little wrong, and they played very loose really from the fourth inning on in this game. Hopefully it’s a step towards a more positive stretch of games for this club.

Other notes from Tuesday:

With the win tonight, Colon became the first pitcher to beat the same team pitching for seven different clubs.

Colon has not walked a batter in five consecutive starts.

Mets starting pitching has allowed one run or fewer in four consecutive starts.

Mets are 20-9 all-time during the regular season against Baltimore.

Murphy went 2-for-3 with a run scored and an RBI – he is 12-for-34 with nine RBI in his last nine games.

Kevin Plawecki drove in a run with a fourth inning double – he now has a five-game hitting streak with three doubles and three RBI over that span.

Juan Lagares went 0-for-4 to snap his 14 game home hitting streak.

Jeurys Familia allowed a run but recorded his league-leading 11th save of the year.