New York Mets cruise through August and maintain first place

When the month of July ended, the New York Mets knew they had a tough road ahead of them. August offered a daunting schedule featuring nine matchups against the Atlanta Braves, another seven against the Philadelphia Phillies, and four more games against contenders to navigate. The month also featured a pair of doubleheaders and a stretch that saw the Mets play 13 games in 12 days with 10 of those games on the road, but the team thrived in the dog days of summer by going 19-11 to maintain their first place position in the National League East.

The high point of the month for the Mets was their first matchup with the Braves at Citi Field, which saw the Mets win four out of five games to push their division lead out to 6.5 games. The momentum from that strong showing carried over for the rest of the homestand, where the Mets swept the Cincinnati Reds and won two out of three against the Phillies before hitting the road. The Braves did make things closer by winning three of four in Atlanta but the Mets responded nicely by winning three out of four in Philadelphia, including a dramatic come-from-behind win on August 21 that was capped by a stunning go-ahead homer from Mark Canha in the ninth inning off of Phillies’ closer David Robertson.

The Mets did see their offense cool off a bit in the back half of August but they did manage to tread water in those contests, going 4-4 over their final eight games to avoid a really bad stretch of baseball. The Braves also hit a bit of a stumbling block of late, losing three in a row in late August to allow the Mets to enter the month of September with a three-game lead in the division.

The offense did a strong job for the Mets and was headlined by Canha, who hit .292 with nine doubles, four home runs and 17 RBIs in just 72 at-bats for the month. Other August standouts included Jeff McNeil (.385/2/11), Francisco Lindor (.286/4/15), Pete Alonso (.254/5/20), Starling Marte (.266/5/16) and Brandon Nimmo (.282/2/5).

The star for the Mets on the pitching side was Jacob deGrom, who was dominant in his return to the rotation by going 4-1 with a 1.98 ERA in five starts, posting a ridiculous 55:3 strikeout to walk ratio in 36.1 innings pitched. Max Scherzer (3-2, 2.66 ERA with a 44:7 K:BB ratio in 40.2 innings pitched) and Chris Bassitt (4-0, 1.62 ERA in five starts) were able to team with deGrom to give the Mets a lethal top three that could be deadly come October.

Edwin Diaz also continued his ridiculous season, pitching to a 0.84 ERA and racking up six saves in 10 appearances while striking out 16 batters in 10.2 innings pitched. The Mets also got good work out of the bullpen from Adam Ottavino (2 saves, 1.35 ERA in 13 appearances) and Seth Lugo (1-0, 2.31 ERA in 12 appearances) as they look to find stability ahead of Diaz prior to the postseason.

The good news for the Mets is that their schedule lightens significantly in September. After the Dodgers leave town today the Mets will play just four more games against winning teams in September: a three-game series at Milwaukee and the first of three against the Braves in Atlanta on September 30. The other 21 games of the month come against mediocre teams, including their next 16 games being against the Washington Nationals, Pittsburgh Pirates, Miami Marlins and Chicago Cubs. The Mets play the Marlins and Pirates in two separate series this month while also heading to Oakland for a three-game set against the last-place A’s towards the back half of the month.

This stretch of bad teams should give the Mets an excellent opportunity to secure the NL East title since the Braves play a more difficult schedule this month that includes an eight-game West Coast road trip to Oakland, Seattle and San Francisco while also dealing with the Phillies seven times. The Mets should be able to clean up nicely here and go at least 19-7 over the course of September.

That kind of performance would put the Mets at 99-55 in the middle of their series with the Braves. One win against Atlanta in that series would also require the Braves to have a better record than the Mets to win the National League East, which could be a tougher task since Atlanta’s schedule increases in difficulty next week. Taking care of business in August has put the Mets in position to secure their first division title since 2015 and lock up a bye to the National League Division Series, allowing them a few key days of rest to set up their rotation for the playoffs.