The New York Mets continued to find new heroes en route to a series sweep of Cincinnati on Wednesday afternoon.
The Mets never seem make it easy (or stress-free), but they came away Wednesday afternoon with a 6-3 victory on the coat-tails of another offensive surge and a precarious, yet successful, effort from Addison Reed. The Mets fifth straight win completed the sweep, and a franchise record fourteenth consecutive victory over the Cincinnati Reds.
The Pitching
Noah “Thor” Syndergaard pitched five scoreless innings despite allowing five hits and four walks. It was his fourth straight quality start, although his defense bailed him out of trouble on several occasions. Addison Reed gave fans a scare in the bottom of the eighth inning facing a bases loaded and no man out situation. Although he allowed three runs in the process, he escaped the inning with the lead. The Mets capitalized and Jeurys Familia put the game away shortly after.
The Offense
Jose Reyes clubbed a solo homerun in the first inning to start the scoring, followed by a scamper home on a wild pitch in the third inning. Curtis Granderson stayed hot, launching a solo shot in the sixth. Wilmer Flores belted a pinch hit two-run homer in the eighth to give the Mets a very comfortable 5-0 lead. After a brief scare where the Reds countered with three runs in a bases-loaded situation, Yoenis Cespedes drove in Asdrubal Cabrera to extend the lead by an extra run.
The stage was set for Familia to come in and save the day and cap the Mets win by a final score of 6-3.
In Summation
The New York Mets are doing everything they can to push themselves into playoff contention. However, they’ll still be scoreboard watching later tonight when the Cardinals and Pirates square off at 7 P.M. Despite going on a tear over the past three weeks which includes a five-game winning streak and winning seven of their past ten, they need a victory that is synonymous with a Cardinals loss.
That being said, a betting man would safely put money on October ball returning to CitiField. The Cards lie mired in mediocrity, playing .500 ball over their past ten games. Relying on ninth inning heroics similar to last night’s game isn’t a formula for success, but the Cardinals are a team that won’t ever go quietly. Regardless, the Mets have an easier remaining schedule which could pay dividends in their pursuit of the playoffs.
