3 UP

1. deComplete Game

Jacob deGrom continued a terrific stretch of Mets pitching by allowing just one run in a complete game.  Other than the Addison Russell homer, no Cub reached third base.  It was a return to the dominant form deGrom had shown in his starts against the Pirates and Angels.  This start leads you to believe the hiccup against the Brewers and Rangers was a mechanical issue that deGrom has now cleared up.  If that is truly the case, the Mets have one of their aces back.

2. Outfield Depth

Arguably, Michael Conforto and Yoenis Cespedes are the Mets two best players if not two of the best players in the National League. They were largely unavailable in the series against the defending World Champion Cubs.

It didn’t matter. In deGrom’s complete game, Jay Bruce hit a two-run homer that turned out to be the game winning hit. In yesterday’s thrilling win, Juan Lagares had a sacrifice fly and a game tying triple.  That set the stage for Curtis Granderson‘s game-winning home run.

It’s remarkable when you have your two best players out of the lineup, and you can still field an outfield that can win you games.

3.  Mets Keep Fighting

In the eighth inning of a 12-1 game, Kyle Schwarber hit what should have been a home run off of Neil Ramirez.  Instead of going through the motions like many players tend to do in a blowout like this, Bruce raced back and stole the home run.

In the ninth inning with the Mets down 14-1, Neil Walker and Lucas Duda hit back-to-back homers.

Josh Smoker threw 81 pitches that helped save the Mets bullpen in that loss and keep arms like Jerry Blevins fresh to go past an inning on Wednesday.

In terms of the game, the play meant little. In terms of the season, that play means a lot.

The seeds of that big comeback win yesterday was sown when the Mets played hard in a blowout.  This team plays hard, and they play the right way.  When a team does that, anything can happen.

3 DOWN

1.  Rosario Stays in Triple-A

With Asdrubal Cabrera‘s thumb injury flaring up again, he went on the 10-Day Disabled List.  It’s bad enough this happened just as Cabrera seemed to get going again offensively having hit two homers in the previous game.  It’s worse when you consider how the Mets are choosing to handle the shortstop position in his absence.

This was the perfect opportunity for the Mets to call-up Amed Rosario even on a short-term basis to vastly improve the infield defense and get inject some energy into the team and the fanbase.  It wouldn’t hurt doing that with a pivotal series against the Nationals coming up this weekend.

Instead, the Mets continue to be content to trot Jose Reyes out there everyday despite his being the worst infielder in the Major Leagues this year (-1.3 WAR).

And no, the Walker injury doesn’t change anything as Gavin Cecchini, not Rosario, was held out of the Las Vegas 51s game.

2.  Collins Dangerous Managing

On Tuesday, Zack Wheeler didn’t have it, and yet, Collins let him throw 46 pitches in the second inning.  He followed that up by using Josh Smoker for four innings. Over those four innings Smoker threw an astounding 81 pitches.  During Smoker’s outing, his fastball went from 97 MPH to 89 MPH.  In what should come as a surprise to no one, Smoker landed on the disabled list.

Wheeler has missed two years of his career due to Tommy John surgery.  Smoker has had two shoulder surgeries in his career.  No, these pitchers don’t need to be babied.  Rather, they need a manger who isn’t reckless in his use of them.  The workload they both faced could have a serious impact on their season an their careers.

3. More Injuries

In addition to the aforementioned Cabrera and Smoker injuries, Walker appears likely to be joining them after he came up lame when he attempted to bunt for a single. There was also Cespedes leaving a game with a chronic heal issue.

As if that wasn’t enough, Collins announced in the post-game, Matt Harvey will be evaluated after he couldn’t get his fastball into the 90s.

If we’re being honest, this Mets team will never get healthy. The best we can hope for is the Mets depth is sufficient to allow the Mets to go on a run.

Now that this series is over, we’re about to find out if the Mets truly have a chance in the National League East as the Nationals come into town for a four game set.