3 Up, 3 Down: Mets Come Through In Chicago

The New York Mets now have three games left for all the marbles.

After coming up clutch to take two out of three in Chicago, the Mets go into the final weekend of the regular season knowing what they need to do.

Just win and take care of business in Miami.

That’s easier said than done given this team’s history against the Marlins. But, with that said, the Mets did just grind out two huge wins against the Cubs. As a result, they very much control their own destiny.

On that note, let’s recap everything from the Cubs series in 3 Up, 3 Down…

3 UP

STRIKING OUT

Yes, Nolan McLean did allow a career-high three home runs in his outing on Thursday night. However, despite that, the rookie still recorded a career-high 11 strikeouts over 5 1/3 innings to help his team claim a vital win. It will go down as a strange outing, sure, but McLean showed his high ceiling. And, despite the five earned runs, he’s probably still in line to start Game 1 of the Wild Card. The fact that McLean was able to grind out his start despite troubles with the long ball should also be viewed as a positive.

CLUTCH HITTING

Besides the second game of the series at Wrigley, the Mets got some gargantuan hits from their offense against the Cubs. Francisco Alvarez delivered arguably one of the biggest hits of his career with a two-run blast that sealed the win in Tuesday’s opener. Brandon Nimmo also came up with a clutch three-run homer that tied the game. Then, in Thursday’s finale, Brett Baty hit a crucial three-run homer in the fourth inning that gave his team a much-needed cushion.

Credit must also go to Francisco Lindor, who enjoyed a monster series. He hit a home run in the series finale, becoming part of the 30/30 club for the third time in his career as a result. Furthermore, Lindor also led off Tuesday’s big win with a leadoff homer while also driving in three runs. All in all, the Mets got clutch hits when they needed them the most against the Cubs.

COMING UP NAILS

Speaking of clutch, the bullpen was also pretty damn impressive in Chicago. Edwin Díaz struck out five of the six batters he faced on Tuesday to help lock down the win. In all, six relievers combined to allow just one earned run in the series opener, with the bullpen called upon to take on an added workload. Ryan Helsley continued his recent resurgence in Wednesday’s game by firing two scoreless innings of relief. He’s now recorded five straight scoreless outings, allowing just two hits and two walks over that six-inning span. Then, in the finale, Díaz, Ryne Stanek, Brooks Raley and Tyler Rogers combined to toss 3 2/3 scoreless innings, allowing just two base runners in the process. With the stakes never higher, the bullpen really delivered in Chicago.

3 DOWN

END OF THE ROAD

The season could well be over for David Peterson. Barring a bullpen role, it seems unlikely that the veteran will now be trusted in any kind of starter role in the postseason. His concerning second-half struggles continued with just a nightmare outing in the series opener on Tuesday. Peterson was absolutely shelled, giving up five runs on five hits and lasting just 1 1/3 innings. In a critical moment, Peterson came up short and then some. Since the All-Star break, Peterson is pitching to a 6.34 ERA with a 1.16 WHIP. It sure appears as though Peterson is broken, and now is not the time to try and fix him.

TOUGH SPOT

If you want to know just how badly the Mets’ pitching philosophy has failed this year, look at Wednesday night as all the evidence you’ll ever need. Jonah Tong allowed five earned runs on seven hits across just two innings. The rookie has now given up five or more earned runs in two of his last three starts. But it isn’t Tong’s fault. He shouldn’t even be pitching in games that matter this much. He’s clearly not ready, but because of how big a hot mess the rotation is, the Mets have no choice but to throw a young starter right into the fire. It just isn’t fair. And relying on three rookie starters will more than likely burn this team come playoff time.

SLOPPY MESS

As big a series win as this was for the Mets, it is important not to get carried away. After all, they won a monster game on Tuesday only to lay a Godzilla-sized egg the very next night. And it wasn’t pretty. The team committed a bunch of self-enforced mental mistakes on the way to being beat up in a 10-3 loss. Clay Holmes committed a wild pitch and then compounded the matter with a boneheaded mental error. Sean Manaea did not look good out of the bullpen. Mark Vientos couldn’t make a routine play at the hot corner, directly leading to a five-run third inning. And the offense could only manage just four hits all night long. The Mets have proven over the last three-and-a-half months that they are a bad baseball team. They also seem incapable of building any kind of momentum. That page must now be turned in Miami if this team really wants to save its season.