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You can say it’s just one night, that it all came together in a 10-0 drubbing Wednesday of the going-nowhere Nationals, from Jose Quintana’s continued brilliance to Brandon Nimmo smacking a needed three-run homer. But with these Mets, these days, it seems like something happens every night. Something good.
They completed a sweep of Washington and now face the jagged teeth of their schedule, a 10-game stretch that will bury or buoy their playoff dreams. The Phillies are in town for four games starting Thursday and then the Mets go to Atlanta, where seasons have died before, and finish in Milwaukee.
We’ll find out if they are up for the challenge and can keep the playoff spot they now hold, up two games on the Braves and tied for the second NL Wild Card spot with the Diamondbacks. But if the Mets continue to play the way they did Wednesday, the way, really, they have for months now, how can you not believe? Even with their MVP – heck, maybe the league’s MVP – sitting again because of a balky back.
One night after Pete Alonso homered and Luisangel Acuña bloomed in a rout, the Mets got big moments from Quintana, Nimmo and a slumping Mark Vientos, who broke an 0-for-15 schneid with a crucial two-run single, in another laugher.
Tyrone Taylor provided another key hit and dazzling defense – did you see that catch he made against the right-field wall? Taylor seems to accomplish something wonderful nearly every time he plays. Acuña even blasted his second homer in as many games and is batting .467 in his brief major league life.
The Mets are 15-4 over their last 19 games and are 62-35 since May 30. The possibilities seem endless now – quite a switch from earlier this season, eh? – and it’s all set the Met clubhouse abuzz.
“Around this time of year, when the energy is high, the weather’s starting to cool off a little bit, it just has that feeling about it, where things mean more,” said Nimmo, who entered the night batting just .184 in September with two extra-base hits. “Each pitch means more. It’s a lot of fun.
“The energy (at Citi Field) was great tonight. But we want even more. This weekend, we want that place filled up. I’m pretty much convinced now, we’re not in the regular season anymore. We’re in playoff baseball and every win is extremely important. It decides whether we keep playing or not… We feed off that energy and we need the fans here this weekend.”
Their starting pitching has been exquisite recently and Quintana was the latest example. He threw seven scoreless innings against Washington and has a 0.28 ERA over his last five starts. He’s working on a career-best stretch of 22.2 consecutive scoreless innings (23.2 if you don’t count the unearned run on Aug. 31 against the White Sox), the longest active streak in MLB. The Mets rotation ERA in September is 1.86.
Nimmo, who last homestand missed a couple of home runs that he smashed foul down the right-field line, including one he believed went over the foul pole, was delighted to get No. 20 on the season Wednesday. It capped a nine-run fourth-inning and even garnered a quip or two from Mets owner Steve Cohen, who noted to Nimmo that he had finally kept a long drive fair.
“Good banter,” Nimmo said.
That’s the kind of vibe the Mets are producing these days, along with all the good baseball. Nimmo wants to keep it going.
“It only matters what you do in the playoffs and trying to win games and trying to bring a World Series back to the Mets,” Nimmo said. “You know, I always look at [Daniel Murphy] as an example. Murph had a great career. But when you think of Murph, you think of the playoffs and you think of, you know, the home runs that he hit and bringing the Mets to the 2015 World Series.
“That’s the time to shine. That’s the time to have fun and it’s just what we all play for. I’m not saying, ‘Go put a bunch of pressure on yourself.’ But this is just when it matters.”
Carlos Mendoza, the Mets manager who has been a guiding force through the Mets rebounding from 11 games under .500 in late May to a position where they can have October dreams, likes to say that the Mets “haven’t done anything yet.”
That’s mostly true, though they did dig themselves out of a losing crater and put themselves in an enviable position. Maybe that’s why Mendoza also allowed himself to say, when asked about the home schedule running out after the Phillies series: “Hopefully, there’s a lot of games left in this ballpark this year.”
Of course, the Mets have to prove that they can finish this and clinch a playoff spot, all in a treacherous 10-game stretch against big-time contenders, including their Atlanta nemesis.
When you watch games like Wednesday night, and add it to the way the Mets have played for months now, it’s easy to think they ultimately prove they’re a playoff team. And maybe much more than that.