The Mets have won the first three games of their homestand and four in a row overall, dating back to the final game of their miserable 1-7 road trip.
While the discussion has centered around the club’s stellar starting pitching during this recent run, there is a forgotten hero in the midst of their success.
The Mets bullpen has been fantastic during their four-game winning streak – they’ve allowed just seven hits and three walks with seven strikeouts in 11 scoreless innings since Thursday.
But the Mets bullpen has been even better over a longer stretch – they’ve allowed just one earned run in 15 2/3 innings in their last seven games.
The relief corps most certainly came to the Mets rescue on Sunday afternoon in relief of Matt Harvey at the resumption of the team’s suspended game from Saturday. They combined to scatter just six hits in seven innings of relief to buy the Mets time to scratch across the winning run in the 13th inning for a 2-1 win.
But the key standout in the bullpen during Sunday’s abbreviated doubleheader was Hansel Robles, which was significant given the uneven road he’s traveled since being recalled in May.
He bailed both Torres’ out of serious trouble in the seventh inning of game one, and ultimately provided 1 1/3 innings of scoreless relief. He then closed out the win in game two with a scoreless inning. He showed he has a rubber arm which could be very valuable in what has really become an overworked and fragmented bullpen for Terry Collins this month.
He had the best command of his slider to date on Sunday, a pitch which was believed to need a little more refinement as he continues to adapt to a late inning reliever.
But if that pitch clicked for him on Sunday, the Mets patience with him might begin to pay off, as that along with his upper-90s fastball can make him one of the more formidable late inning relievers in the game.
Just Mets 