The Mets are still 0-for-the season when trailing after eight innings, an indication they’ve been searching for that 2024 OMG magic. But this was the next best thing as they showed some toughness in an impressive comeback win against the first-place Philadelphia Phillies and Cristopher Sanchez, one of the best pitchers in the game.
On a night when Kodai Sengalasted only four innings, calling into question the decision to have him make a rare start on four days rest (more on that to come), the game could have easily gone the other way for the Mets.
But after they rallied from an early 3-0 deficit to blow out the Phillies 13-3 on Monday night at Citi Field, you could hear it in Carlos Mendoza’s voice at his postgame presser. This is the team he has continued to hope would show up before it was too late.
“It was good to see the guys fight back,” Mendoza said. “We’ve been having a hard time fighting back. To do it against a good pitcher like that, it’s a good sign.”
In August, the Mets’ bats have come alive, for the most part. Yet, in just the last week, they’ve also gone silent after losing leads against the Washington Nationals and Atlanta Braves, again calling into the question the grit of this team.
So rallying for 13 unanswered runs against Sanchez and the Phillies was no small feat. Especially considering how the Phillies had been 17-2 when scoring two or more runs for Sanchez, a legit NL Cy Young candidate.
It doesn’t change the fact that the Mets still have a huge hill to climb to chase down the Phillies, as they’re still six games back in the NL East. And they’re still only 8-14 in August, rarely looking like a playoff team for several weeks.
Still, maybe a win like this does offer reasons to believe they can get back to playing at a high level.
Perhaps most importantly, the offense is finally clicking, and Mark Vientos is starting to resemble the 2024 version of himself that was such a huge factor in the Mets’ success. With a pair of RBI doubles on Monday, he extended his hitting streak to eight games, during which he’s hitting .387 with five home runs and 13 RBI.
“We’ve been missing that bat,” Mendoza said. “When he’s doing that, taking the ball the other way when he’s pitched that way, we’re pretty dangerous. If we get that version of Vientos, we’re going to be in a good place.”
It’s not just Vientos, however. The Mets are getting more contributions from the lower part of the lineup, especially on Monday night, with Luis Torrens chipping in with a career-high five RBI, including a three-run home run to blow the game open.
As such, the Mets have scored an MLB-leading 93 runs in 13 games since Aug. 12, and their 133 runs scored in August are the second-most.
More to the point, they’re actually hitting with runners in scoring position, which has been their biggest issue all season. They went 11-for-19 in RISP opportunities on Monday, and they’re hitting .351 as a team in those situations this month.
Mendoza said he believes it’s more than just the law of averages evening out over the course of a season. After criticizing his team publicly for not making in-game adjustments to the way they were being pitched, he said he is seeing better at-bats now, especially in the clutch.
“We’ having good approaches,” he said. “We’re using the whole field. We’re not just trying to hit a home run in those situations. We’re trying to be good hitters.”
Indeed, on this night the biggest hits of the game were to the opposite field, from Jeff McNeil’s game-tying single in the fourth inning to Vientos’ go-ahead double to right in the fifth, and finally to Torrens’ RBI double and three-run home run as well.
And to do much of it against Sanchez and his elite change-up was even more impressive, as the Mets’ hitters did make adjustments to taking that change-up the other way.
As Torrens said of Sanchez, “He’s a great pitcher. He’s one of those guys where the entire team has to make adjustments on the fly.”
Perhaps that’s an indication the Mets’ hitters responded to Mendoza’s criticism. In any case, they put up six runs against Sanchez, only the third time all season he has allowed more than three earned runs in a start.
So the offense is where it started. Then the bullpen finished it with five innings of brilliance from five different pitchers, an indication of the deep bullpen David Stearns envisioned when he traded for three relievers at the July 31 deadline.
Yet when Mendoza was asked if the game went according to script, he laughed and practically howled in protest.
“That’s not the plan,” he said emphatically. “We’re going to need our starters.”
Yes, the starting pitching remains the most pressing problem for these Mets, as Senga continued his pattern of struggling since returning from a hamstring injury in July. He hasn’t looked the same and spoke afterward about needing to pitch with more power.
With that in mind, it was strange the Mets allowed him to make a rare start on four days rest, as they’ve almost always given him an extra day, going back to his routine in Japan. Mendoza indicated they won’t do it again when his turn comes up Saturday during this stretch of 16 games without an off day.
That likely means the Mets will call up either Brandon Sproat or Jonah Tong from the minors to be a sixth starter, and from there who knows. Both have pitched with dominance in Triple-A lately and, like Nolan McLean, could give the ballclub another boost in the rotation.
Tuesday offers another potentially revealing moment as Sean Manaea tries to find his 2024 form. If he continues to be a three- or four-inning pitcher, it’s possible that the Mets would have a need for both Sproat and Tong, either as starters or bulk relievers.
As such, this looms as both a pivotal and intriguing week for these Mets. If they can do more to fix the pitching, well, the offense is offering hope the best is still ahead for their season. That and the grit they showed Monday night could still go a long way.
