Mets face more heavy lifting in final week of regular season
Mets’ Starling Marte, Pete Alonso and Mark Vientos celebrate their 2-1 win against the Philadelphia Phillies on an MLB baseball game at Citi Field on Sunday, Sept. 22, 2024. Credit: Kathleen Malone-Van Dyke
Why not the Mets? Why can’t Carlos Mendoza & Co. make good on their pledge to play again this year at Citi Field, despite Sunday night being their regular-season swan song in Flushing?
Circle Oct. 8. Game 3 of a Division Series. That’s probably the earliest the Mets could get back to Flushing (catching the Padres for the top wild card is a long shot) but there are plenty of reasons to believe. The Mets have shown us what they’re capable of since Memorial Day, and when the playoff stretch run reached critical mass in September, all they’ve done is reel off MLB’s best record (15-5) this month.
Entering Sunday’s start by Tylor Megill, the Mets’ rotation had pitched better and longer than just about anyone else in the majors since Sept. 1, with a 2.28 ERA that was second only to the Padres (2.25), the lowest WHIP (0.90) and the most innings (118 1/3).
Offensively, the Mets ranked third overall in both homers (27) and runs scored (99), with the seventh-best OPS (.748). The two sluggers who needed to show up for September have now flicked on the power switch, with Francisco Alvarez (5 HRs, 14 RBIs) and Pete Alonso (4 HRs, 12 RBIs) providing the fireworks.
For Alonso, Sunday night carried the emotional weight of potentially being his last game at Citi Field in a Mets uniform, with the team’s playoff status still very much uncertain and free agency looming. As Alonso approached the plate for his first at-bat, he was greeted with a standing ovation, then waved his helmet to wild cheers from the near-capacity crowd. Chants of “Pete Alonso!” echoed throughout the ballpark, as well, before he struck out.
Fortunately for the Mets, whatever conflicting emotions are roiling inside Alonso during this Flushing countdown, it hasn’t impacted his production lately. And that seems partly due to his conviction about Sunday not being his Flushing finale in orange-and-blue.
“In my mind, it’s not,” Alonso said. “I’ve just been pretty persistent on thinking on how I can help win today ... Nothing’s changed.”
If this winds up being Alonso’s long goodbye, he wants to stretch it out as much as possible, and the Mets are playing like a team that could stick around for a while, despite Francisco Lindor’s indefinite absence — his limited pregame workout Sunday didn’t appear to be an encouraging sign. Losing Lindor figured to be a death knell to the Mets' wild-card hopes, but with Sunday's 2-1 victory over the Phillies, the Mets were 6-1 since their MVP was replaced in the starting lineup by the combo of savvy veteran Jose Iglesias and week-old rookie Luisangel Acuna during this final homestand.
Acuna’s spectacular debut has been nothing short of playoff-saving for the Mets, as he’s not only supplied excellent defense, but probably gone beyond what Lindor would have done at the plate. He entered Sunday hitting .385 (10-for-26) with two doubles, three homers and six RBIs.
If Lindor remains on the shelf, is it reasonable to think Acuna can stay on such a roll? Or that Alvarez won’t suddenly go AWOL at the plate like his previous three months? Sometimes, when teams get hot this time of year, they’re able to fuel that fire deep into October. But this isn’t just a recent phenomenon. The Mets have the best winning percentage (.649) in the majors since June 2, so this is more like a continuation of a series of successful trends, at the pivotal stage of the season.
“I think everybody is doing their part to push us forward,” Luis Severino said. “Hopefully to get to the playoffs, move on and keep going.”
Does that mean returning to Citi Field again in October?
“Yes, of course, 100%,” Severino said. “We’re going to do everything in our power to bring at least one playoff game to New York.”
The confidence is there, as is the momentum. But the Mets still need to lock down a wild-card berth, and for all they’ve already accomplished — roaring back from 11 games below .500 in early June — the road to the finish line is a bumpy one.
The first Atlanta stop of this upcoming final road trip probably won’t decide the Mets’ playoff fate, however. Mendoza’s crew heads to Atlanta with a two-game lead on their hated nemesis. Then the Mets go to Milwaukee for three against the Brewers, who are pretty much looking like the NL’s third playoff seed. That could mean October prep will be the Brewers’ top priority by then.
Atlanta should have a much tougher draw for that final weekend, as it will host the Royals, who should still be jockeying with the Tigers and Twins for a wild-card berth, or playoff positioning at the very least. The Mets would love to push Atlanta farther back in their rearview mirror by the time they leave Truist Park, but they may have to attempt it without Lindor in the short-term. Perhaps longer.
“They’re resilient, they care, they have passion,” Mendoza said. “And when the moment seems to be really big, they continue to show and they continue to find a way. I’ve been really impressed and proud of them ... But we still have work to do.”
A lot of it for the Mets to get back to Citi Field again. But the task in June was monumental, too. And look where they are now.
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.
