3 Up, 3 Down: Mets Stay Red-Hot With Sox Sweep

The New York Mets appear unstoppable right now.

Now in the home stretch, the Mets have kept their eyes on the prize and swept the Red Sox in another clear signal of intent. Talk about a perfect way to begin a crucial homestand.

As a result, the Mets have now won seven straight and are gathering all the momentum at exactly the perfect time. They remain hot on the heels of the Braves for the final Wild Card spot in the National League. New York is also now a season-high 12 games over .500.

This team appears to be getting red-hot when it matters the most. We should be in for a very fun September.

And, with that, let’s dive deep into another edition of 3 Up, 3 Down…

3 UP

LEAVING HIS MARK

Jesse Winker could go down as the best pickup of the entire trade deadline. He’s certainly in the conversation. The one-time Mets nemesis has done nothing but mash since arriving in Queens. He’s come up with big hit after big hit, including in the Red Sox series. Although silent in the first two games, Winker saved his best for last by hitting a first inning grand slam to set the tone in the series finale. A monster hit set the Mets up perfectly to complete the sweep.

Since being acquired from the Nationals at the deadline, Winker is hitting .306/.341/.471/.811 with three homers, five doubles, 12 runs scored and 13 RBIs for the Mets. Now, that’s what you call making an impact.

SEASON FOR THE AGES

I’ve long been a proponent of there being an MVP Award and an award for Best Player. For instance, looking at this year, Shohei Ohtani would win the Best Player Award and Francisco Lindor would be crowned the NL MVP. Without Lindor, the Mets would have been dead and buried long ago. As special a player as Ohtani is, the Dodgers are arguably still a playoff team with or without him. But the Mets depend on Lindor. That was proved with the shortstop continuing his season for the ages against Boston, going 6-for-12 with two doubles, a home run, four runs scored and four RBIs.

He now has a 33-game on-base streak and a 15-game hitting streak. Furthermore, Lindor continues to lead the National League with a 7.3 fWAR. We’re witnessing something truly special with Lindor this year, and he deserves all the accolades coming his way, even if he does miss out on the NL MVP.

TIMELY BOOST

Everything seems to be going perfectly for the Mets right now. Case in point: Kodai Senga could return before the end of the regular season. Senga threw an impressive bullpen session on Wednesday, and he’s eligible to return off the IL on Sept. 25. If that were to happen, that would be a significant boon for the Mets rotation with the Wild Card race likely to go right down to the wire. Having Senga available for the postseason would also be huge. Furthermore, Paul Blackburn is set to return to the rotation early next week against the Blue Jays. As such, the Mets are getting key reinforcements back when they need them the most. Having a healthy rotation could prove to be the difference down the stretch.

3 DOWN

GOING SHORT

Tylor Megill didn’t exactly cover himself in glory in his start on Wednesday. The righty allowed three earned runs on five hits with a walk and three strikeouts. More significantly, he only went four innings. Consequently, Megill has only pitched six innings once in his last five starts for the Mets. He opened the door for the Red Sox to get back into the game in the finale. Thankfully, some aggressive management from Carlos Mendoza, a stellar showing from the bullpen, and clutch hitting got Megill off the hook. But, with Blackburn coming back and Senga set to return at the end of the month, Megill’s short-term future could be pitching out of the bullpen.

TOUGH NIGHT

Pete Alonso did hit a home run in this series, but that two-run shot on Tuesday was a rare bright spot. Other than that, the slugger struggled against Boston. He went 0-for-3 in the opener with a strikeout, before striking out three times and going 0-for-4 in a tough game on Wednesday. Alonso continues to struggle in clutch situations and with runners on this year. He is now hitting just .211 with RISP after going 0-for-2 with runners on in the finale. If the Mets are to punch their postseason ticket, and then play deep into October, they need their power hitter to start coming through in the clutch consistently.

NO HELP

The Mets are doing all they can right now to keep their postseason hopes alive. They are giving it their all and can’t really do much else. At some point, they will need help from elsewhere. And that help needs to come in the form of the Braves finally succumbing to a boatload of adversity and falling out of it. Or the Padres and the Diamondbacks slowing down. And, with the Cubs going on a heater and not going away quietly, the Mets can’t afford to run into any kind of losing streak. All the Mets can do is keep on winning, but they will also need a helping hand from elsewhere sometime soon to extend their season.

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