The Mets were just swept by the Nationals. A week before they were swept by the lowly Braves. They had lost 11 of their last 17 games and were in a stretch where they had scored only nine runs over their past five games.
Then the Mets came home to Citi Field to host the Chicago Cubs. John Lackey started the series opener and he was dealing, firing 5.1 shutout innings against a lifeless Mets offense that was only able to muster two hits. Then Yoenis Cespedes stepped up to the plate and did this:
“I think it woke us up, I really do,” Terry Collins said of Cespedes’ 19th home run.
From that point forward, the Mets have been a different team. The Mets made an improbable comeback in that game scoring three more runs in the seventh inning to beat the Cubs 4-3.
From there, the Mets would sweep the four game set from the Cubs much like they did in last year’s NLCS. They pummeled Jason Hammel like it was Game 4 of the NLCS. They beat reigning Cy Young Award winner Jake Arrieta. And they scored 14 runs in a game started by the $155 million dollar man Jon Lester.
Overall, the Mets averaged eight runs per game against a Cubs team that leads the National League in Team ERA and Batting Average Against. It was an unexpected and impressive performance. The Mets’ offense transformed from a feckless one to one that could seemingly overcome any obstacle.
We saw that again on Monday. Matt Harvey had a poor start lasting only 3.1 innings and putting the Mets in an early 6-0 hole against a Marlins team that just terrorizes the Mets. Normally, this would have been reason enough for Mets fans to groan and start wondering if this Marlins teams is really better than the Mets. It would normally be cause to question whether the Mets’ offensive barrage of the Cubs was a fluke. It turns out it wasn’t a fluke.
The new Mets offense started chipping away. Travis d’Arnaud hit his first home run of the season in the fourth. Curtis Granderson, back in his familiar leadoff spot for perhaps the last time, followed with a home run of his own in the fifth. Then miracle of miracles, the Mets offense began scoring runs without hitting any more home runs.
In the sixth, d’Arnaud had a bases loaded RBI infield single. Another run scored when Kelly Johnson hit into a double play. There was another rally in the seventh that saw a run score on a James Loney RBI ground out and a Wilmer Flores sacrifice fly. The Mets had gone from a six run deficit to a a tie game heading into the eighth inning.
Naturally, Cespedes would be the one to put the Mets ahead for good by hitting a two run double off new Marlins reliever Fernando Rodney who had only allowed one earned run all season until that hit. It was the biggest comeback of the season and fourth largest comeback in Mets history.
Two weeks ago, that rally didn’t seem possible. The Mets’ offense was stagnant and wouldn’t have mustered up much of a fight. However, lately this Mets team has been rejuvenated since that Cespedes’ home run into the Promenade Level – a home run that reached heights no other home run had ever reached at Citi Field.
It was a home run that has helped the Mets reach new heights on this home stand, and hopefully it was a home run that may propel the Mets to even higher heights not seen in 30 years.
