It’s only one game, but the Mets may have found the road back into the race for the NL East title.
They entered the opener of their three-game set with division-leading Philadelphia staring at a season-worst seven-game gap and, after a slow start that put them in a three-run hole, launched an impressive five-inning offensive in which they scored 13 unanswered runs en route to a 13-3 victory before 41.983 on Monday night at Citi Field.
“It was good to see the guys fight back and we’ve been having a hard time when we lose the lead, fighting back and taking it back,” manager Carlos Mendoza said.
The game included a long delay while the parabolic microphones that flank the batters eye were adjusted after the Phillies said one was affecting their vision at the plate.
The Mets got three runs in the fourth inning, one in the fifth, two in the sixth and four in the seventh, capped by Luis Torrens’ three-run blast into the Philadelphia bullpen in right-centerfield. They tacked on three in the eighth. The Mets got runs by capitalizing on Phillies miscues, delivering two-out hits off starter Christopher Sanchez and pummeling Philadelphia’s relievers.
Torrens had a career-best five RBIs, Jeff McNeil had two hits and three RBIs, Mark Vientos continued to swing a hot bat with two hits and two RBIs and every Mets starter except Francisco Lindor had a hit in the all-out assault. The Mets were 11-for-19 with runners in scoring position — the 11 such hits the most they’ve had in a game since the 2017 season.
And if that wasn’t enough, five Mets relievers — Jose Castillo, Tyler Rogers, Brooks Raley, Ryan Helsley and Ryne Stanek — each pitched a scoreless inning after starter Kodai Senga had another substandard outing and allowed three runs in four-plus innings.
The Mets (70-61) have won three of their last four games and now trail the Phillies by six games in the division with 31 games left on their schedule, including six with Philadelphia.
“We’re doing what we expect ourselves to do … I don’t think it’s anything less than that,” said Vientos, who has an eight-game hitting streak in which he’s batted .387 with 13 RBIs.
Asked about the Mets’ chances of overtaking Philadelphia, Brandon Nimmo replied: “I think anything’s possible. It’s just a lot of things got a lot of different things got to happen, some things that are not in our control.”
“We put ourselves in this position,” Mendoza said. “We’ve been inconsistent but also understand we’ve got a few games here and we can’t look too far ahead … We’ve got a job to do and we’ve got to continue to win games … But I like our chances. I like what I’m seeing out of the guys the past couple of weeks.”
Senga was going on four days’ rest instead of his typical five and continued the run of ineffective pitching — now eight starts — since his July return from a hamstring strain. The Phillies put runners on base, drove up his pitch count and scored the game’s first three runs. Senga didn’t retire a batter in the fifth and exited after 93 pitches with the Mets in a 3-0 hole after allowing six hits and three walks.
It could have been worse. He managed to strand four Philadelphia runners in scoring position.
Senga had a 1.47 ERA when he got hurt and has pitched 35 innings to a 5.40 ERA since he returned. Asked about returning to top form before the end of the season, he replied: “It’s something that I have to do. If I’m not able to do that, I’m going to pull the team down.”
Vientos, Nimmo and McNeil had RBIs in the fourth when the Mets tied it 3-3. The go-ahead run in the fifth came after Juan Soto appeared nailed on a pickoff attempt, but the Phillies committed an error on the rundown toward second base. Vientos’ two-out double made it 4-3.
“We’ve been missing that bat,” Mendoza said. “We saw last year how important he is and when you add that type of bat to our middle of a lineup, we’re going to be pretty dangerous.”
The Mets added on a pair of runs in the sixth inning when Torrens doubled in Taylor and scored on Starling Marte’s two-out single for a 6-3 lead. In the four-run seventh, a McNeil sacrifice fly with the bases loaded preceded Torrens’ home run. In the eighth, Taylor, McNeil and Torrens all had run-scoring singles.
Notes & quotes: The Mets placed Reed Garrett on the 15-day injured list before Monday’s game with inflammation in his right elbow. Mendoza said he’d have a cortisone injection … Tylor Megill, out since mid-June with elbow inflammation, had been seen as an option to start Friday against the Marlins but now will make a fourth minor-league rehab start on Thursday for Syracuse.
Roger Rubin returned to Newsday in 2018 to write about high schools, colleges and baseball following 20 years at the Daily News. A Baseball Hall of Fame voter since 2011, he has covered 13 MLB postseasons and 14 NCAA Final Fours.
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