Just Mets

It all happened so fast in the third inning for the Mets, it was hard to digest what was going on.

It started with a walk to Kevin Plawecki, which is unusual to begin with considering Nationals RHP Jordan Zimmermann is a strike throwing machine, walking batters to the tune of 1.6 per nine innings.

Suddenly, Curtis Granderson lined a two-run home run over the right field wall.

The Mets had a 2-1 lead. But they were far from finishing off this bludgeoning of the Nationals.

Daniel Murphy proceeded to launch a moonshot into the Pepsi Porch in right field. The Mets had gone back-to-back, and it was 3-1 in favor of New York.

 The crowd was going nuts, unlike its ever been in the six-year history of Citi Field.

Had Murphy ever felt such electricity in the ballpark?

“No,” Murphy said afterwards. “To answer your question in the simplest of terms, I have not.

“In my experience at this stadium, it was unique. … It was a lot of fun,” Murphy concluded.

Terry Collins agreed with his second baseman, and the rest of the baseball world.

“I’ve got to tell you, this is my first experience with a New York crowd and what it’s like here and the energy they bring to the ballpark,” Collins explained. “It’s unbelievable.”

It was, and the Mets continued to feed off of the rise in electricity in the ballpark in what felt like a playoff game for the blood thirsty fan base inside Citi Field.

“Getting a chance to be out there and feel the energy and feel the electricity, it reminded me a lot of Shea in ’06 and ’07 and ’08, just the rowdiness,” David Wright said after the game. “There’s a buzz that hasn’t quite been there because we haven’t quite played as well as we’ve played this year. I can’t remember Citi Field rocking the way that it has been this weekend.”

But the Mets still had work to do to secure their path into a virtual tie of first place with the team they were about to sweep on their home turf, something which seemed particularly absurd just 48 hours prior considering the Mets had dropped 21 of their last 27 games against the Nationals at Citi Field.

So, Lucas Duda took care of the rest, as he has done for the last ten days or so, launch his ninth home run in eight days into the right field stands to put the finishing touches on a stunning five-run barrage to basically seal their monumental three-game sweep of the Nationals, thanks also to Noah Syndergaard’s eight beautiful innings in which he only allowed a pair of solo home runs.

“It’s a lot of fun being a Met right now,” Syndergaard said with a smile at his locker after the win.

It’s a lot of fun watching the Mets again. Finally.

Not since the days of Shea Stadium has a Mets crowd been so electric, so in-tune, and so much a part of a win (three wins, actually). They’re pumped for what lies ahead, as are the now rejuvenated players on the Mets roster, who are suddenly playing with a purpose, fire and energy not seen since they opened the season with a 13-3 run.

Maybe it’s the infusion of big league talent to the roster which has changed things for these Mets, who had really meandered through the last 2-3 months of baseball. Maybe it was the words of warning from Terry Collins to his players that they need to hit, or they will not play. Maybe it’s their renewed faith in team brass, as they’ve shown they’re all-in and committed to winning it all right now.

After all, big league players replacing minor league players always makes a team better, and that is exactly what ownership and the front office decided to do by adding four legit winning major leaguers to the roster in the last ten days.

Maybe it’s all of the above. But there seems to be a new chemistry with this team and its fan base again, a combination which might be very, very lethal as the leaves on the trees begin to change colors in a month, or two.

There is still a lot of work to do. There are 57 games remaining, six of which will be against these Nationals again. Nothing is sealed by any means on August 3.

But what transpired at Citi Field over the weekend resembled a rebirth for the New York Mets and the desperate fan base.

What does it all mean? Time will certainly tell, but there’s no question Citi Field needs to be like this more often.