The Mets defeated the Diamondbacks by the score of 5-3, sweeping Arizona in their three-game weekend series at Citi Field. Here are my takeaways from Sunday’s win…
Have yourself a day, Kirk.
This was a guy the club designated for assignment after starting the year 3-for-38 with 17 strikeouts. The Mets then traded him to the Angels only to claim him right back when Los Angeles placed him on waivers just a short time after. Then, after a brief time in the minors in which he was slumping, the Mets brought him right back and he has immediately contributed while Michael Cuddyer rests his knee.
Today was his biggest day as a Met ever, and it came at a very good time for the team. He clubbed a solo home run in the second inning, a two-run home run in the fourth inning, a solo home run in the fifth inning, his first three home runs of the season. Those three hits match the first three hits he had in 38 at-bats before the team sent him packing (watch).
You never know what’s going to happen in this game of baseball.
Its a good story for the now well-traveled Nieuwenhuis, who clearly fell out of favor with the team earlier this season only to be brought back for another life. He’s done in the last week what the club expected him to do in his first 38 at-bats, and right now he’s doing a great job of picking up for Cuddyer and the rest of the slumbering outfield.
They’ve got the power.
They’re still not scoring that many runs, but when they have, its come via the home run. The Mets scored four runs today via the homer, their four runs on Friday and Saturday came via the home run, and the Mets scored two runs via a home run on Wednesday.
This is a team that was supposed to be built on power, but they hadn’t really hit for much power over the last six weeks and it had severely dwarfed their offense.
But now, as the weather has gotten hot, so have their bats in the power department. They’re not doing much else, but whatever works at this point.
A fantastic finish to a turbulent half.
The Mets have now won four in a row and seven of their last nine games, and are now five games over .500 with a nice, four day break coming up. And, the bench has been contributing big time lately.
The Mets are going into the All-Star break with 47 wins. For this team with this roster and all of the injuries they’ve had, that’s very impressive. They’re still on the outside looking in with their playoff races, but they are in a good, strong position heading into a very difficult ten game stretch against the Cardinals, Nationals and Dodgers to open the second half.
But with this pitching, they’re going to be in all of these games. The question is whether or not they can get enough offense and out-pitch the opposition as needed. It’s going to take another bat and maybe a bullpen piece on the left side for baseball to mean anything for this team in September, but with their finish to the first half, the players have given Sandy Alderson every reason to acquire offense, and make a run for October.
Look, there’s no telling if the Mets will have another opportunity like this in future years. They can’t predict what other teams in the league are going to do or how they’ll play, they can’t predict if any of their big arms are going to be injured, and so on and so forth. This is a big opportunity to swoop in and get past game 162.
The Mets should take advantage of this opportunity, right now.
Other notes from Sunday:
Nieuwenhuis is the first Met ever to hit three home runs in a single game at home.
Nieuwenhuis is now the tenth Met to hit three home runs in a single game.
The Mets have now hit nine home runs in their last four games.
Jenrry Mejia made his 2015 debut and retired the only batter he faced.
Jeurys Familia recorded his 27th save with a scoreless ninth inning, his seventh consecutive and his fifth save since Monday, July 6 in San Francisco.
Just Mets 