3 Up, 3 Down: Mets Power Past Marlins In Sweep

The New York Mets were swinging a hot bat throughout their series win against the Miami Marlins.

On the way to sweeping the Marlins on the road, the Mets scored a combined 31 runs. However, on the flip side, they also gave up a combined 23 runs in a series heavy on offense.

The offense saved the day on Wednesday when bad pitching led to a huge blown lead, and nearly another late in the game. As a result of the sweep, the Mets are no longer in last place in the NL East. Furthermore, they’ve now won eight of their last 11 games.

On that note, let’s dive into another edition of 3 Up, 3 Down…

3 UP

FLASHES OF PROMISE

We got another long-awaited glimpse at Jonah Tong. The young pitcher was called back up and got the start on Monday. He showed some good and bad. The good was seven strikeouts over four innings. The bad was four earned runs allowed on four hits. What is important to note, however, is that Tong recovered after giving up a three-run homer, allowing just two baserunners over his final three innings. In short, there’s plenty to work with Tong, but he showed enough to be encouraged about.

BACK ON THE HORSE

We talked about A.J. Ewing waking up from his slumber last time out, but it is worth talking about again. Because since then, the rookie has continued to show plenty at the plate. He went a combined 7-for-13 with two runs scored and five RBIs in the Miami series. That’s what you call snapping a skid. It is also encouraging that Ewing was able to work through his struggles, make the necessary adjustments, and come through it. That’s a huge positive.

OFFENSIVE EXPLOSION

Boy, the bats were red-hot in this series. The Mets scored a combined 31 runs across the three games. They also got contributions from up and down the lineup. Juan Soto had three RBIs and three walks in the series. Francisco Lindor hit two home runs with four RBIs. Carson Benge and Bo Bichette continue to contribute at a high clip. Then, in the series finale, Ewing, Brett Baty, Christopher Morel, and Luis Torrens combined for 10 hits, seven runs scored, and 10 RBIs. Baty continues to show why the Mets are reluctant to give up on him, while Jared Young also stayed hot in Miami. All in all, while there is work to be done, the building blocks of a potent offense appear to be in place.

3 DOWN

HEART ATTACK BASEBALL

The Mets put us all through it on Wednesday. On what was Opening Night in the NFL, the Mets and the Marlins combined to put up a football score. While the offense stepped up, the pitching did not. Chris Devenski was charged with five runs to help blow an 8-0 lead. Three more relievers then combined to allow another six earned runs as the Mets nearly blew another huge lead in the ninth. Thankfully, the team held on, but there is certainly plenty of work that needs to be done in the offseason when it comes to the bullpen.

FADING FAST

Sean Manaea continues to generate confusion. The lefty owned a perfect game through five innings on Tuesday, before imploding in the sixth. The end result was four earned runs allowed on five hits. Manaea has seemingly hit a wall with 23 earned runs and seven home runs allowed over his last five starts alone. More importantly, Manaea really struggles the deeper he gets into games, and that would suggest that maybe his days as an effective starter are indeed over.

BLACK HOLE

Let’s remind you that the Mets scored 31 runs in this series. With that in mind, Francisco Alvarez contributed just one of those runs. The catcher struck out a combined three times over just two games, and his struggles have gone on for a prolonged stretch now. He is hitting just .148/.200/.279/.479 with 30 strikeouts over his last 18 games. Those are some ugly stats, and there has to be some real concern over Alvarez going forward.