Mets Week in Review June 28- July 5

As the New York Mets’ bats went quiet last week against the Philadelphia Phillies, Washington Nationals and Atlanta Braves, they were in need of answers. The Mets needed their stars to shine and produce like they proved they can do.

In the midst of an odd week for the Blue and Orange, they would play seven games against three different teams. They would play one game in Washington to make-up a game from earlier in the season then fly down to Atlanta for a three-game series. To cap off the week, they would play the New York Yankees and play the first part of the Subway Series at Yankee Stadium.

Nationals outfielder Kyle Schwarber continues to hit the leather off the ball and continues to hit dingers against the Mets, as the Nationals beat the Mets, 8-4. Schwarber smacked two more solo homers against starting pitcher Jerad Eickhoff. Eichkoff allowed four solo homeruns in his six innings of work, including back-to-back homers in the first to start the offense for the Nationals. The first was a leadoff homerun from the bat of Schwarber and the other was from second baseman Trea Turner.

The Mets came crawling back with two back-to-back homers for themselves. First baseman Pete Alonso continues to crush balls away from Citi Field, he helped his team get runs on the board with a two-run shot, followed by a solo shot from outfielder Billy McKinney. Closer Edwin Diaz could not keep the Mets close enough to strike again as he gave up a three-run homerun to Mr. National himself, Ryan Zimmerman.

Tylor Megill pitched in his first MLB game against the Braves and made his second start of his young career against them again. He pitched very well and is continuing to prove that he is worth keeping on the roster until reinforcements like Carlos Carrasco and Noah Syndergaard return from injuries. Through five innings of work, he struck out eight Braves batters and had only one bad pitch which led to a three-run shot off the bat of second baseman Ozzie Albies. The Mets did pull off the come from behind victory after catcher James McCann hit a three-run homer in the seventh inning and a Francisco Lindor RBI single after that.

In the second game of the series, the Braves absolutely decimated the Mets, 20-2. Pete Alonso hit a first inning two-run homerun that also scored outfielder Kevin Pillar. Then the Braves offense poured it on. To say the least, the Braves did not score in the second, sixth or ninth innings of this game and they did not need to play in the ninth inning. Pitcher David Peterson continues to have hot and not starts for the Mets as he was pulled after just three innings of work and giving up six runs. As much as the Braves are a homerun hitting team, they only hit three the entire game and won by playing small ball. Albies led the team with seven RBI in the game.

The final game of the series was a Jacob deGrom game and his greatness continued in this game. While it was an off game for him if you want to call it that. He struck out 14 batters, because that is what he does, but gave up three earned runs which is more than he’s given up this season. Catcher Austin Riley had the big hit against deGrom and smacked a two-run shot to lead the game 3-1. Mets outfielder Dominic Smith hit two solo homers in two straight at bats to tie the game, but reliever Seth Lugo blew his opportunity to keep the game in close but the Braves walked it off with a first baseman Freddie Freeman infield hit, taking the game 4-3.

Then came the Subway Series. Pitcher Taijuan Walker dealt and gave up two hits through 5.2 innings of work as the Mets won 8-3. Dom Smith had three RBI in the game and Pillar had two, while Yankees outfielder Aaron Judge hit a 387-foot solo homerun in the sixth off Walker.

The Mets and Yankees would play a doubleheader on Sunday because of a rain out that past Friday. In game one, Yankees first baseman DJ LeMahieu scored on a wild pitch from Mets pitcher Marcus Stroman to break the tie and take the lead for the Yankees 5-4, Closer Aroldis Chapman could not record an out in the seventh as he blew his save opportunity. He owned three of the Mets six runs in the last inning. Alonso homered to tie the game at five and the Mets rolled through the rest of the inning. Pinch hitter Jose Peraza, with help from a fan in left field, scored two more runs to take the lead and ultimately the game, 10-5.

In game two, Yankees shortstop Gio Urshela cranked a three-run homer in the second inning to put the game out of the Mets reach, as the Yankees took the final game of the series 4-2. Alonso hit another two-run homer to put the game at 3-2, but a wild pitch from Mets reliever Miguel Castro scored outfielder Brett Gardner to put the final nail in the Mets coffin.

The Mets offense has been clicking since the Braves series and with the All-Star break drawing near, and a tough series with the Milwaukee Brewers could be a statement series the Mets could use going into the break. And with a series against the Pittsburgh Pirates after that, the Mets can put some serious distance in the National League East standings with some easier wins.