Mets win series vs. Atlanta and send important message
Mets starting pitcher Chris Bassitt works the fourth inning of a game against Atlanta on Wednesday in Atlanta. Credit: AP/John Bazemore
The Mets didn’t attach any earth-shaking significance to taking this week’s series from Atlanta after Wednesday’s anxiety-free 7-3 victory at Truist Park.
“I’ll let y’all weigh-in on that,” Buck Showalter said.
Cool. Because we’re here for you Buck, more than happy to provide our own analysis.
It was a very big deal.
As big as these things can get on July 13, with a division lead wobbling, the defending world champs breathing down their necks and the Mets grinding through a 17-games-in-17-days stretch to close out the first half of the season.
Mix in us media types ticking down the NL East doomsday clock, watching the Mets lose nine games in the standings over the relatively brief span of five weeks, and this trip to Atlanta wasn’t just another visit to a division rival. It was the textbook definition of a statement series, facing the hottest team in baseball, one that many assumed finally had shaken off their World Series hangover -- just in time to remove Showalter & Co. from the East throne.
But the Mets refused to acknowledge that narrative. Down two All-Stars, with Starling Marte on the IL and Jeff McNeil on paternity leave, they relied on Max Scherzer -- the rotation’s gladiator -- to deliver a message in Monday’s opener and Chris Bassitt to add the exclamation point less than 48 hours later. The Mets aren’t going anywhere, and after a barrage of homers by Eduardo Escobar, Francisco Lindor and Mark Canha, they left Truist Field with a larger division lead than they arrived with, back up to 2 1/2 games.
“I feel like the vibe was everybody was freaking out outside of this clubhouse,” Tomas Nido said. “So it feels good for everybody to see that the season is not over.”
The smiling Nido paused for a beat, then added, “I’m kidding.”
Hey, whatever works. Silencing the haters, calming the jittery Flushing faithful. It’s a long season. But the front-running Mets undeniably were in a bit of a midseason malaise heading into this NL East showdown and Atlanta was a 29-8 steamroller, mashing home runs at a terrifying pace that only the Yankees could eclipse.
Scherzer basically won the opener by sheer force of will, icing the NL’s most fearsome offense -- for seven innings, the newly-acquired troll job Robinson Cano had the only hit -- in the Mets’ 4-1 victory. Afterward, Scherzer spoke about encouraging his teammates to ride the adrenaline boost of these moments, to channel that nervous energy. For the first 2 1/2 months, the Mets didn’t have a threat in sight. But when they finally came nose-to-nose with the danger this week, on Atlanta’s hostile home turf, they didn’t flinch.
In Wednesday’s finale, facing the resurgent Charlie Morton (1.60 ERA over his previous five starts), Showalter didn’t go full lineup-from-the-hat, but there was some of that in play. He stuck Luis Guillorme in the cleanup spot for the first time in his career, sandwiched between Pete Alonso and Mark Canha, the strategy being: why the heck not?
Of course Guillorme, quickly developing into Showalter’s favorite all-purpose weapon, delivered a key RBI-double when the Mets added a pair of tack-on runs in the seventh inning. Wednesday was just a classic case of the Mets staying one step ahead of the defending champs all afternoon: Bassitt (1 run, 6 Ks, 6 innings) easily outpitched Morton, who was ripped for three homers and five earned runs before getting pulled with no outs in the sixth.
Only the Yankees had scored more runs since June 1 than Atlanta, who had averaged 5.7 over those 37 games. The Mets held them to eight total for the series.
“I wouldn’t say we’re downplaying it, just more so being realistic,” Bassitt said. “Yeah, these games are awesome to win because it widens the gap a little bit but it doesn’t mean a ton in the long run -- just because I would say the most important games are at the very end of the year.”
But the Mets can’t play those yet. And of the ones they have, they improved to 12-3 in “rubber games” that decided a series this season, as well as 8-2 in those played on the road, and are now 28-12 against the NL East. The Mets also are 47-5 when they score at least four runs, the best mark in the majors.
Lindor, as much Mr. RBI as Mr. Smile, delivered a sizable chunk of those with his three-run blast in the third. He was only 2-for-28 against Morton before that game-changing swing, doing what a $341-million shortstop gets paid to do. That gave him 64 RBIs for the season, three more than he had all of last year.
“Just got to go out there and take care of business,” Lindor said. “I’m not doing it by myself.”
And this was a very successful business trip to Atlanta, who got a reminder the Mets are in first place for a reason, with the intention of staying there.
David Lennon is an award-winning columnist, a voter for baseball's Hall of Fame and has covered six no-hitters, including two perfect games.
