Mets stay hot with win over Red Sox, move half-game out of final wild-card spot
Luis Severino of the Mets reacts after the seventh inning against the Boston Red Sox at Citi Field on Monday. Credit: Jim McIsaac
Mets fans arrived at Citi Field on Monday night with renewed optimism as the club, on its recent road trip, had closed to within one game of Atlanta for the final National League wild-card spot.
That includes the biggest (or richest) Mets fan of all, owner Steve Cohen, who stopped in before the game for a visit to the batting cage and a lengthy chat in the dugout with David Stearns.
If Cohen was giving his president of baseball operations an “attaboy,” it certainly seems well-deserved.
With Monday’s 4-1 victory over the Red Sox before 35,064 at Citi Field, the Mets moved to within a half-game of idle Atlanta.
The Mets have won five in a row and are a season-best 10 games over .500 at 74-64. They were 11 under on June 2 but have gone 50-29 since then.
“What a story, right?” manager Carlos Mendoza said. “Proud of the guys. It’s been a lot of ups and downs, but we never quit. We never gave up. We always continued to believe. We knew we had a good group. We knew we had good players and it was just a matter of time.”
Is the best yet to come? That’s what the rest of this month is for.
The Mets have to finish the job, of course, and actually be in playoff position when the regular season ends on Sept. 29. But the optimism in Flushing is palpable.
“Here we are, playing meaningful games in September,” Mendoza said. “But we haven’t done anything. We know where we are . . . Today was a fun night. Being back here in our house in front of a really good crowd. That’s what it’s all about.”
It helps to have top-notch starting pitching. The Mets got another superb outing from Luis Severino, who allowed one run in seven innings.
In their last five games — one turn through the rotation — Mets starters are 4-0 with a 1.31 ERA.
Severino (10-6, 3.84 ERA) gave up six hits, walked two and struck out five. He threw 100 pitches.
“This is a good team,” he said. “From now on, every game is a must-win. Every time they give me the ball, I’m going to go out there and give them my 100%. The fans are doing a great job. They’ve been really good to me. Hopefully we can keep winning games and make the playoffs so I can feel that in the playoffs.”
The Mets took a 1-0 lead in the second against Brayan Bello (12-7, 4.75 ERA) when Jose Iglesias and Jeff McNeil started the inning with singles and Starling Marte grounded into a run-scoring double play.
Boston tied it in the third. Ceddanne Rafaela hit a sinking liner that skipped past a diving Brandon Nimmo in center and went for a triple. Rafaela scored on a single by Jarren Duran.
Nimmo made up for his mistake, twice. First, he doubled home Francisco Lindor with the go-ahead run in the third. His second act of redemption came with two outs and two on in the sixth. Rafael Devers sent a liner to center and Nimmo made a tumbling catch to end the inning.
The Mets made it 4-1 in the fourth. DJ Stewart, called up for the game with J.D. Martinez going on the paternity list, singled with two outs and scored when leftfielder Tyler O’Neill bobbled Luis Torrens’ double into the corner. Lindor, who heard “M-V-P!” chants all night, poked an RBI single to right-center.
As for Cohen, Mendoza said he spent a lot of time talking with the owner — “feel like we were going forever,” Mendoza said — and Cohen’s message was simple:
“Keep it going.”
Anthony Rieber covers baseball, as well as the NFL, NBA and NHL. He has worked at Newsday since Aug. 31, 1998, and has been in his current position since July 5, 2004.
