The Mets could have had a letdown day after a riveting sweep of the Philadelphia Phillies on Sunday night. When Davie Peterson put the Mets in a 3-0 hole in the top of the first inning, there was a hint that this letdown was possible.
But if you were really worried about that, then you just haven’t seen the 2022 Mets often enough.
The Mets responded to that first inning by blitzing the Washington Nationals 13-2 the rest of the way, responding with two in the bottom of the first, four in the second, and three each in the third and fourth. And with the other three teams in the N.L. East also losing, the Mets are now 9.5 clear of the field in the N.L. East, and are showing no signs of slowing down. Not that there aren’t looming problems. There are still a lot of injuries (although not nearly as many as the last two seasons, which really tells you about the last two seasons), and Peterson had an outing that was rough enough that he couldn’t even get a victory with a 9-3 lead in the fifth. But quite frankly, if those are the Mets’ worst problems right now, I’m happily on board with that.
There were a lot of “stars of the night”. But there were three unquestioned stars in my mind, and they all put the game away in the second inning. Nick Plummer tied the game at 3-3 with an RBI double, and he would later pump home a three run HR in the 4th to end up with four RBI on three hits. I’m trying to figure out who on the ’86 team would be his parallel existence. Ed Hearn, who also filled in admirably due to injury? Lee Mazzilli, perhaps? I think we’re going to find out that everyone on the 2022 team has a 1986 spirit animal. I don’t know who belongs to Plummer but the one thing you should believe, if I may, is that you should always trust a Plummer in a town called “Flushing”.
(These “Plummer” jokes getting old yet?)
Luis Guillorme followed with a single to score Plummer to make it 4-3. Guillorme scored three runs on two hits from the leadoff position, but the lion’s share of his value tonight, as it is on most nights, is his defense. The Nationals thought it might have been a good strategy to hit every single ground ball in his area, but as you can see from the video evidence I’m about to provide: it’s not.
Luis Guillorme with the fantastic throw on the run! pic.twitter.com/FQlUdzn9H2
— SNY (@SNYtv) May 30, 2022
WHAT A FLIP BY LUIS GUILLORME FOR THE FORCEOUT AT SECOND! pic.twitter.com/8ExyTo632H
— SNY (@SNYtv) May 30, 2022
THE LUIS GUILLORME MAGIC!!!!! pic.twitter.com/8hlJoCuPpt
— SNY (@SNYtv) May 31, 2022
Just think that if the Mets didn’t make the baseball decision and release Robinson Cano, this might not have been possible.
Starling Marte ended the 2nd inning rally with a two run homer which landed on Long Island (never “in” Long Island), and Marte also had three hits and drove in four runs. Marte came into this game with an OPS of .861 in May, and obviously that got better tonight.
Asked Starling Marte if #Mets even flinch when they fall behind 3-0, which happened tonight.
He laughed.
“Sometimes we like being down,” Marte said, smiling, “just so we can come back.”
— David Lennon (@DPLennon) May 31, 2022
Just about everyone contributed offensively. Francisco Lindor had three hits. Pete Alonso drove in another run with a late solo HR. Mark Canha had two hits and scored three. With all the injuries to the pitching staff, the Mets offense picked the perfect time to get hot and hit in the clutch. That’s the mark of winning teams, right?
Today’s Hate List
The Nationals social media team.
FINAL // the Mets had a lot of hits, but so did Nickelback.
— Washington Nationals (@Nationals) May 31, 2022
Just a reminder that Nickelback has 22 Top 40 hits while the Nationals have 18 wins.
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