3 Up
1. Record Setting Friday Night
The Mets 13-1 victory over the San Francisco Giants on Friday night had some history to it. 12 of the 13 runs scored were all in the third inning, setting a new franchise record which was previously set on July 16, 2006 when they tallied 11 runs in an inning against the Cubs. The Mets sent 15 batters to the plate that inning, tallying a total of eight hits and four walks. The inning was capped off by a Yoenis Cespedes grand slam, his second hit of the inning. Cespedes also recorded six RBI in the inning, which is also a new club record.
2. Conforto Keeps Hitting
He was stymied a bit by Madison Bumgarner in the series finale, but Michael Conforto had himself a phenomenal series, and really overall a great start to his first full season. He collected five hits in the series, including two doubles and a HR, along with five RBI. He was a triple short of the cycle on Saturday. He’s now 10th in the league in batting average and eighth in OPS. Coming into Sunday’s game, Conforto was hitting .407 with 14 runs scored, nine doubles, four home runs and 15 RBIs in his last 14 games. At just 23 years old, Conforto is starting to become one of the best young hitters in the game.
3. DeGrom Stays Undefeated
He wasn’t spectacular, but he was able to get his third win of the season. He was a bit erratic at times and walked a total of four batters, but all three runs allowed were unearned. He only surrendered two hits, and struck out a total of five batters in six innings pitched. Jacob is quietly off to a solid 3-0 start to the season, with an ERA of just 1.02.
3 Down
1. First Hiccup for Noah
It was billed as one of the top pitching matchups of the week, pitting premier lefty Madison Bumgarner against the young phenom Noah Syndergaard – who has taken the league by storm so far in his very young career. However, yesterday was not Noah’s day, as he allowed a season high four runs on five hits and two walks while striking out six batters in 5 2/3 innings. It was his shortest outing of the season. Syndergaard looked solid up until the fourth inning, when he gave up three runs, capped by a two-run home run off the bat of Hunter Pence. Most of the damage could be attributed to an inability to hold runners on. The home run snapped Thor’s 29.2 homerless innings streak.
2. Bullpen Struggled at Times
The Mets bullpen surrendered a total of four runs in the three game set against the Giants. On Saturday, it was Addison Reed who gave up two runs along with two walks, and yesterday it was a combination of Antonio Bastardo and Logan Verrett who both gave up a run each. The Mets were up 6-3 prior to Reed coming in to pitch the 8th inning on Saturday, but his two runs allowed made it a little too close for comfort. Luckily, Jeurys Familia was able to collect his eighth save of the season, and preserve the win for the Mets.
3. Stolen Bases Becoming a Concern
For a team who doesn’t steal a ton of bases themselves, the Mets do allow quite a few. This weekend it was Noah Syndergaard in particular who had issues with that. Syndergaard allowed four stolen bases on Sunday, and it did prove to be a factor. Last season in the World Series, you saw how much of a factor the running game was. Teams that have some speed can give the Mets trouble when they have runners on base. It’s something the pitchers will need to focus on as the season continues. The Mets have allowed a league high 22 stolen bases.
