Mets Series Review: Domination of the Nation
The New York Mets are flying high, leading the National League East by ten and a half; they head into a difficult ten-game California road trip holding a record of 35-17 after completing a perfect 6-0 homestand. Coming off a weekend sweep of the Phillies, the Mets crushed the Washington Nationals in three straight, winning by a combined score of 28-5, as they shut Washington out in the final two games to head to Los Angeles on a high note.
Following a dramatic walk-off win on Sunday night, the Mets fell behind early on Monday as David Peterson allowed three runs in the first inning. The Mets wasted no time in answering as they scored two runs against Washington starter Erick Fedde. While Peterson settled down and blanked the Nationals over the next three innings, the Mets bats continued to do damage, scoring four runs in the second inning to send Fedde to an early shower, giving up six runs on eight hits in one and one-third innings. The big blow was a two-run shot by Starling Marte.
The Mets continued to hang crooked numbers against the Nationals' bullpen, scoring three runs in the third, while Nick Plummer had a three-run home run in the fourth to stretch the Mets' lead to 12-3. David Peterson, however, would not benefit from the Mets' offensive explosion as he had trouble finding the plate in the fifth inning, allowing a run before he was taken out of the game, one out away from going the required five innings to earn the win. Colin Holderman would allow his first run in the fifth inning but earned the win by getting the game to the seventh inning, with the Mets up 12-5. Pete Alonso would homer in the eighth as the Mets won four straight for the first time in 2022 by beating the Nats 13-5.
On Tuesday night, the Mets commemorated the tenth anniversary of Johan Santana's No-Hitter by having him reunite with Josh Thole and the five Mets who combined for a No-Hitter in April. Trevor Williams would start for the Mets, as the struggling Patrick Corbin started for the Nats. Williams pitched around a walk in the first, while the Mets quickly jumped on Corbin, with Mark Canha leading off with a single as Starling Marte hit a home run to the right of the apple in centerfield.
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Trevor Williams pitched as well as could be expected, allowing three hits and two walks with one strikeout in five innings. Corbin, meanwhile, was battered by the Mets, allowing seven runs in four and one-third innings. The Mets added two runs on a single by Luis Guillorme in the third and broke the game open in the fifth, as Mark Canha, on the way to a four-hit night, had a two-run double while Francisco Lindor drove in a pair with a single.
In the sixth, Eduardo Escobar would make 10-0 with a home run to close out the scoring. Drew Smith showed no ill effect of the dislocated pinky and was joined by Joel Rodriguez and Adonis Medina to keep the Nationals off the board, with the Mets winning their fifth straight game.
With a trip to Los Angeles in the wings, the Mets went out Wednesday afternoon, looking to complete a three-game sweep with Carlos Carrasco on the mound. Carrasco had a special fan in attendance as his father visiting from Venezuela, watched him pitch for the first time in an MLB game. Carrasco was a Nestle Tollhouse cookie as he was often sloppy, walking five batters, including throwing 11 straight out of the strike zone to load the bases in the third. In the fourth inning, the Nats had runners at the corner with one out, but Carlos Carrasco got Dee Strange-Gordon to hit into an inning-ending double-play. Despite having runners on base all game, Carrasco went five innings and left with a 2-0 lead.
The Mets got the lead in the fourth inning as Evan Lee making his MLB debut, began to tire. The big hit was delivered by Tomas Nido, who drove in two, as Strange-Gordon booted the ball in center, allowing Luis Guillorme to score from first. Nido was not done as he went 4-for-4 with three RBI. It was the first four-hit game in Nido's career. Tomas Nido also scored a run in the seventh, coming home on a sac-fly by Francisco Lindor, who matched Mike Piazza's franchise record with ten consecutive games with at least one RBI. The Mets would win the game 5-0, closing out the homestand with 21 consecutive scoreless innings.
The 6-0 homestand gave the Mets a margin for error as they head west for a brutal ten-game road trip against the Los Angeles Dodgers, San Diego Padres, and Los Angeles Angels. The gauntlet begins with four games against the Los Angeles Dodgers starting on Thursday. This would be the series where the loss of their front-line starting pitching could become a problem as the Dodgers are just behind the Mets at 33-17 in the battle for National League superiority.