You know what they say. When the goings get tough, the tough get going.
The Mets have endured a string of injuries over the last several days, as Michael Conforto, Brandon Nimmo, Jeff McNeil and Robinson Cano have all been sidelined.
After a dismal series against the Miami Marlins where they were swept out in three games, these injuries could have been the nail in the coffin.
However, the Mets have been resilient and have won five of their last six games, primarily on the strength of their depth pieces.
Tuesday, May 21 vs. Washington
In the seventh inning after the Mets fell behind 3-1, J.D. Davis stepped to the plate as a pinch-hitter and tucked a three-run home run over the right field fence to give New York a then 4-3 lead.
The seesaw affair also saw Pete Alonso and Amed Rosario log clutch hits in New York’s ultimate 6-5 walk-off victory.
Wednesday, May 22 vs. Washington
The Mets were trailing 1-0 going into the bottom of the eighth, but weren’t going down without a fight.
New York tagged Nationals’ setup man Kyle Barraclough and closer Sean Doolittle with four runs, including a base clearing double from Juan Lagares, and a three-run homer from Rajai Davis, who earlier that day had taken an Uber from Pennsylvania to Citi Field.
The Mets went on to win 6-1.
Thursday, May 23 vs. Washington
Winning 3-1 in the eighth inning, the Nationals took back the lead off Robert Gsellman by putting up a three spot.
However, in the bottom half of the inning, New York regained the lead on a clutch three-run home run from outfielder Carlos Gomez, who sprinted around the bases and jumped with joy, 12 years after his last home run for the Mets.
The Mets held the lead, as Edwin Diaz closed out the victory to complete the four game sweep and further bury the reeling Nationals.
Friday, May 24 vs. Detroit.
The Mets would ultimately lose this game 9-8, but saw contributions from many spare parts, including a three-run home run by Adeiny Hechavarria, a solo shot by recently claimed Aaron Altherr and a home run by Wilson Ramos, who had struggled mightily offensively until late.
The seesaw affair went in the Tigers favor, but New York’s depth pieces offensively gave the pitching more than enough to work with.
Saturday, May 25 vs. Detroit
The Mets offense as a whole struggled mightily in this one except for the catchers. Ramos again stayed hot, launching two home runs and driving in a run on a single.
The game remained at a 4-4 stalemate until the 13th inning when backup catcher Tomas Nido took Tigers’ reliever Buck Farmer deep to give the Mets their second walk-off win of the week.
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This has been one of the easier stretches of the year so far for the Mets, but even still, they are down several of their key players and have been able to creep back within one game of being at .500.
The Mets got some good news on Sunday, as Conforto will return from the injured list and bat third in New York’s series finale with the Tigers.
New York will have a tough schedule ahead of them, as they head west to face the Dodgers for four games and the Diamondbacks for three. But, if New York can stay at .500 after the road trip and get some of their key players back after that, they will be in good shape.
But for now, they will hope that their depth pieces still have some magic in them.
