The Mets have met or arguably surpassed their fans’ expectations in the first two-plus months of this season. They held the best record in the National League and second best in all of baseball behind the New York Yankees—who were 40-15 as of last night—when they played the seventh game of a 10-game West Coast trip late yesterday evening versus the San Diego Padres.
The Mets were 38-20 and 3-3 out West with one more game in San Diego before three with the Los Angeles Angels tomorrow, Saturday and Sunday. They began the trek by losing the first two games of a four-game set against the Los Angeles Dodgers but rebounded to take the final two. The Mets then defeated the Padres 11-5 on Monday behind third baseman Eduardo Escobar going 4-5 and hitting for the cycle, and also knocking in six runs.
The next night Padres starter Yu Darvish stifled the Mets’ bats, giving up just two hits in seven innings en route to a 7-0 Padres shutout. The Mets also lost first baseman Pete Alonso in the second inning when he was hit by a pitch on his right hand. As of early yesterday the Mets stated X-rays were negative but Alonso’s status for the final game of the series had not been communicated by the team.
In the same inning, outfielder Starling Marte exited with left quadriceps tightness. Alonso and Marte have been mainstays of a productive Mets lineup. Alonso was tied with the Dodgers’ Mookie Betts for the National League lead in home runs when last night’s slate of games began and led all of Major League Baseball with 54 RBI. Marte was batting .277 with seven homers and 33 RBI.
After Tuesday’s game, Mets manager Buck Showalter took a pragmatic view of the injuries. “The front office has been ahead of the game keeping us equipped to compete and we’ll continue to do that.”
The Mets return to Citi Field on Tuesday to face the Milwaukee Brewers for three games and will stay at home for three versus the Miami Marlins June 17-19.