Following an underwhelming 6-7 start to the season — including a disappointing .500 road trip at cellar-dwelling Pittsburgh and Philadelphia — coming back home for a 10-game homestand was apparently just what the doctor ordered for the 2000 New York Mets.

Mike Hampton got touched up for five earned runs over 7.2 innings in the series opener versus Milwaukee at Shea on April 18, but Brewers right-hander Jaime Navarro allowed nine runs over four frames — including a fourth-inning grand slam courtesy of Robin Ventura, his third homer of the season — and the Metsies held on 10-7.

Reliable right-hander Rick Reed took the hill the following night and turned in a gutsy performance, putting up seven innings of one-run ball, working around seven base hits (Milwaukee was 0-f0r-6 with runners in scoring position), striking out six and walking one. Geoff Jenkins‘ seventh-inning solo homer was the only blemish in Reed’s run column.

As for the offense, the Mets rode Rickey Henderson‘s 2-for-3, two-walk, two-run day to an early 3-0 lead. Thanks to Reed and bullpen fixtures Turk Wendell, Dennis Cook, and Armando Benitez, that’s all that was needed.

Mike Piazza (first-inning RBI groundout), Derek Bell, and Edgardo Alfonzo (single and a sacrifice fly, respectively) — all directly behind Rickey in the batting order– added RBIs to secure New York’s third straight win, 3-1.

Milwaukee came out firing early in the series finale that Thursday, tagging Al Leiter for four runs over the first five innings powered by a two-run homer from James Mouton in the third and a solo shot via Charlie Hayes in the fifth.

Leiter would work through the sixth, leaving with a 4-1 deficit, but the Mets rallied in the seventh to tie the game at four.

Bell led off the frame with a solo homer and Alfonzo followed him with a base hit into left field. Following a Piazza walk and a Ventura groundout, leaving runners on the corners, Zeile came through with a two-run single off right-hander David Weathers.

 

Pat Mahomes and Cook each turned in a scoreless inning to send the game into extras, and Melvin Mora — still a few weeks away from being thrust into the starting lineup — sent the Shea faithful home happy with a walk-off solo home run off Brewers’ righty Curt Leskanic in the bottom of the tenth to complete the sweep.

Next up, another bottom-feeder — the Chicago Cubs. And, as good teams must do, the Mets feasted on an inferior opponent.

Following a Friday night rainout, left-hander Glendon Rusch took the ball for the first leg of a true doubleheader on Saturday and stifled his former team, scattering four hits over seven innings, allowing two runs (solo homers to Mark Grace and Shane Andrews in the seventh) with two strikeouts and no walks.

Holding onto a 3-2 lead heading into the bottom of the eighth after a clean frame in relief courtesy of John Franco, the Mets’ offense came alive again, putting up a five-spot in the inning.

Rey Ordonez scored Todd Pratt (leadoff walks will kill ya) with a single into center field, Benny Agbayani drove home him and Mora (intentional walk) with a two-run double into left, and Derek Bell scored him and Piazza (walk) with another two-run double in the next at-bat, extending New York’s winning streak to five games.

The Mets’ offense registered another five-run inning in the second game of the twin bill, finally solving Kyle Farnsworth in the seventh inning, down 3-1.

Four Mets reached base to start the frame — Ventura led things off with a solo blast to right field, Zeile doubled, Agbayani walked, and Kurt Abbott singled — to chase the young right-hander.

Rey Ordonez welcomed Mark Guthrie into the game with a two-run single into center, Mora’s sacrifice fly scored Abbott, and Ordonez scored on Shane Andrews’ throwing error at third to give the Mets a 7-3 lead, which they would not relinquish. Though, they tried.

Dennis Cook allowed two consecutive Chicago batters to reach with two outs in the seventh and paid for it via Henry Rodriguez‘s RBI double, cutting the Mets’ lead to 7-4.

Turk Wendell got the final out of the frame and worked around a walk in the eighth to keep the three-run lead intact, but Rodriguez’s two-run homer off Benitez in the ninth surely made things interesting before the big righty struck out Tarrick Brock to lock it up.

A Sunday matinee at Shea to close out the series got out of hand fairly quickly — in a good way. Alfonzo (two-run shot; his second of the year) and Piazza (solo; his fifth) both went deep in the bottom of the first to stake the Metsies to an early 3-0 lead.

Cubs backstop Joe Girardi struck back with an RBI double off Hampton in the top of the second and Sammy Sosa tied the game with a two-run blast in the third, but the Mets’ offense got themselves going once again, exploding for a seven-run fourth off Cubs starter Kevin Tapani.

Ventura doubled to start the inning. After a Zeile lineout, Jay Payton singled to score him, Ordonez — who went 4-for-9 with two doubles and four RBIs in the series — doubled to score Payton, and Hampton got in on the fun, adding an RBI single of his own, to make it a 6-3 game.

Rickey Henderson singled in the next at-bat, Derek Bell followed him with his third homer of the season to extend the lead to 9-3, and Piazza (two-out double to end Tapani’s day) scored on Ventura’s line-drive E5 to make it a 10-3 game.

Then, as if three five-plus-run innings weren’t enough over their last six games, the Mets tacked on another five-spot in the fifth via an RBI single from Bell (14-for-his-last-23 with three doubles, two homers, eight RBIs), a two-run double from Piazza, and a two-out, two-run single from Zeile later in the frame.

With the score 15-3 heading into the sixth, Bobby Valentine took advantage of the situation and pulled most of his starters out of the game. Hampton allowed a run in the sixth and another in the seventh to finish his day (three earned runs, three strikeouts, four walks).

The Mets’ bullpen — largely outstanding over this six-game stretch — finally cracked (Rich Rodriguez gave up three runs over two innings in relief), but it was inconsequential. And despite the minor bullpen hiccup, Valentine’s bullpen was settling into place and building momentum.

“I just like the fact that we’re not wasting our good pitching and we’re not wasting our good hitting,” Valentine told the New York Times after Sunday’s win. “That’s the sign of a good team.”

With seven wins in a row in their pocket, the Dodgers dropping in at Shea to complete their rain-shortened series from earlier in the season on Monday, and a strong Cincinnati team heading into town after that to finish out the homestand, the Mets would need to continue playing their game.