Mandatory Credit: Kam Nedd-USA TODAY Sports

While the week was bookended with blowout losses, the Mets – behind stud starters Taijuan Walker, Jacob deGrom and Marcus Stroman – took three of the five total games they played.

The rotation’s Big 3 combined to pitch 19.1 innings, allowed two runs and struck out 27. It’s must-watch baseball whenever any of those guys take the hill at this point and they seemingly only build on each other’s stellar performances.

Fernando Tatis Jr. continues to be a thorn in the Mets’ side, but he’s pretty much that for everyone, and David Peterson’s alarming struggles continued. The good news is Joey Lucchesi turned in another fine performance and has seemed to turn a corner in his season.

Weekly Record: 3-2

2021 Record: 32-25 (1st Place, NL East)

162 Game Pace: 91-71

What Went Right: The Long Ball

The Mets are still 28th in the majors in home runs, but they’ve also played the fewest games by a considerable margin. Over their five games last week, the Mets bashed 11 homers, including six in Wednesday’s 14-1 win over Baltimore.

What Went Wrong: Keeping It Close

Losses happen, it’s no big deal, but the two Met defeats over the last week were by a combined 17-6 margin. With the target on their back that comes with being a first-place team, the Mets need to do a better job of staying within striking distance in games where they may not be at their best.

Stock Up: Joey Lucchesi

After a disastrous start to his season, Joey Fuego has turned things around in a big way over the last month. In his last four starts, the lefty has combined to pitch 17.1 innings, allowing just three runs and striking out 19. He still doesn’t go very deep in games – his longest outing in that stretch was five innings on Sunday – but at this point he’s giving the Mets everything they can ask out of their fifth starter.

Stock Down: Jacob Barnes

Barnes entered Sunday’s game with the score tied, two outs and the bases loaded in the seventh inning before promptly giving up a grand slam to Tatis and solo shot to Manny Machado, erasing any hope the Mets had of a sweep.

Barnes has only been used three times over the last 10 days and has allowed runs in two of those appearances. With Sean Reid-Foley reportedly on his way to Queens, Barnes could be headed for Triple-A in the immediate future.

Injury Report

Luis Guillorme’s return from the IL has already paid dividends defensively, and more help is on the way.

Jeff McNeil has started his rehab assignment and should be just days away from returning, while Michael Conforto is running at full speed and shouldn’t be too far behind.

Albert Almora Jr. has been playing for Triple-A Syracuse and could also make his return to the majors any day.

Next Up

The Mets are just three games into their tumultuous 33-games-in-31-days stretch and will need every arm and bat on the team to make a contribution leading to the All-Star break.

This week features a four-game set against both the first-place Cubs and last-place Nationals. Peterson is scheduled to start Monday’s contest against Jake Arrieta, followed by the Walker-deGrom-Stroman three-headed monster.

The Mets have done a good job of proving they could play with – and beat – the Padres over the past two weeks. Now they have a chance to prove the same against the class of the NL Central.

And they’re lined up perfectly to do just that.