Here’s what no one expected this past weekend. In the series sweep of the Diamondbacks, the Mets scored all of their runs via home runs. Altogether they hit nine home runs this series, including the historic three homer game by seldom used Kirk Nieuwenhuis.
Starting with Eric Campbell’s three run homer vs San Francisco on Wednesday, the team’s last 15 runs scored were all by home run balls. Prior to that, the Mets had not hit a homer since Curtis Granderson belted one back on June 27.
Also, prior to Friday when the Mets hit two home runs, they hadn’t hit multiple home runs since June 20.
“We’re making more contact,” said Ruben Tejada, who homered on Saturday. “When we make contact, anything can happen. We have to keep working every day. No matter who’s pitching, we need to keep working like a team.”
Ever since they got swept by the Chicago Cubs at Citi Field, the Mets have won 6 of their last 8 games. They went 4-2 on a tough West Coast trip against two solid teams, taking 2 out of 3 from both the NL West leading Dodgers and the defending World Series champion Giants.
The amazing part of all those homers is that they’ve come from six different players, a total team effort. Even starting pitcher Matt Harvey got in on the action, belting his first major league homerun on Saturday, a two run blast.
“It’s huge because we said when we came into July during the last homestand, ‘July’s going to be tough,” said Collins.
“To get it started the way we have right now is a huge lift for us. You’re starting to see different guys in the lineup coming through. Nobody was hitting and now we’re starting to spread it out a little bit.”
It all started with Duda and Cuddy’s blasts on Friday, two hitters who were struggling mightily coming in. Duda added another homer on Saturday as well. Collins said that both Duda and Cuddy must continue to perform well in order for the Mets to succeed in the second half.
“That’s nice, you know,” said Duda about the team wide homerun spree. “I think if everybody starts hitting well, we’ll break out. It’s not just on me, it’s on everybody.”
New York’s seven home runs in two games (July 11-12) are the most over a two-game span since they hit seven home runs in two games versus St. Louis on July 26-27, 2008.
Incredibly, the Mets have been doing most of their damage at Citi Field where homeruns have been hard to come by for the team since it’s opening in 2009.
The nine home runs in the three-game series against the D’Backs not only tied a franchise record, but they were the most homeruns by any team in a three-game series in the history of Citi Field.
Will it continue? Nobody knows for sure, but you have to admit that considering how tough everyone thought July was going to be for the Mets, they’ve come through in a big way and have beaten some pretty impressive and intimidating teams.
The Mets have won 7 of their 11 games in July so far for a .636 winning percentage and their best month since April when they had their 11 game winning streak.
