NEW YORK – Carlos Mendoza emphasized this several times on Wednesday.
“We didn’t do anything,” the manager said.
No, the Mets haven’t clinched a playoff spot or won a division. But they’re beginning to see light at the end of their long climb out of early-season competitive purgatory. Wednesday’s 10-0 win over the Nationals capped a three-game sweep by a 22-2 margin.
The Mets have finished their last 19 games 15-4, tied with Arizona (against whom they have the tiebreaker) for the second wild-card spot and are two games ahead of Atlanta in the fight for a playoff spot.
“The energy was great tonight, but we want more,” Nimmo said, referring to a crowd of 34,196, nearly 10,000 more than the night before. “We want this place packed. We’re not in regular season anymore. We’re in playoff baseball.”
Jose Quintana: “The guy that Acuña can play. Wow.”
— Tim Britton (@TimBritton) 19 September 2024
New York hosts the Phillies this weekend for four games in Queens to complete the home schedule. Philadelphia can clinch the National League East with a tie in the four-game series.
“I’m not ready to call it our last home game,” Mendoza said. “Hopefully there will be many more baseball games in this stadium this year.”
Wednesday offered numerous reasons to believe this.
The offensive showed more encouraging signs
A week ago, the Mets were one inning away from going hitless, but since then, their offense has picked up significantly: Over the past eight days, they’ve played seven innings in which they’ve scored at least three runs.
Wednesday’s nine-run fourth inning was the most explosive in more than three years. It contained several encouraging signs. One night after coming close with three long flyouts, Mark Vientos contributed a two-run single in the fourth inning — and another hit to open the fifth. Pete Alonso was in the midst of another run-scoring rally. And Nimmo capped it off with his 20th home run of the season, a three-run blast against former Met Jacob Barnes.
“This shows how strong our lineup is,” Nimmo said. “We can put pressure on them and break the dam.”
“From one to nine, there is a lot to like,” Mendoza said.
The otherwise reserved Jose Quintana summed it up well on Wednesday evening.
“The guy Acuña can play,” Quintana said. “Wow.”
After a season of struggles in Triple A, Acuña has broken out in the major leagues. On Wednesday, Acuña had two more home runs, including his second home run in as many nights. He has hit just seven home runs in nearly 600 plate appearances for Syracuse this season. In his first four games in the major leagues, Acuña has hit 7 of 15 home runs.
Mendoza did not deny that some players become complacent in the minor leagues and then turn things up in the major leagues. He joked that Acuña mentioned that he could see the ball better since moving up; Mendoza pointed to the better lighting in the major leagues.
Aside from an error on Tuesday night, Acuña also looked pretty solid at shortstop, which is why Quintana praised him on Wednesday.
It remains unclear how far away Francisco Lindor is from returning. He jogged in the outfield and played catch on Wednesday, his first baseball activity since leaving Sunday’s game in the second inning. Mendoza said before the game that Lindor would have to complete a long series of drills to show he’s ready to be back in the lineup this weekend against Philadelphia.
Jose Quintana is the best pitcher in baseball
With seven more shutout innings on Wednesday, Quintana extended his scoreless streak to 22 2/3 innings — the longest of his career. In his last five starts, he has allowed a single earned run in 32 innings — a microscopic 0.28 ERA. It’s the best five-start streak by a Mets pitcher in a season since RA Dickey in 2012.
As the season has progressed, the Mets have increasingly deployed their best defense behind Quintana. In his last two starts, New York has deployed its best outfield, with Nimmo in left, Harrison Bader in center and Tyrone Taylor in right. Taylor made a great catch against the wall in the seventh inning to give Andres Chaparro extra bases.
This allowed Quintana to be more aggressive in the strike zone.
“When you throw a pitch and your defense makes plays like that, it’s great,” Quintana said.
Quintana’s season was a soaring one, with a 5.29 ERA in his first 13 starts, a 1.91 ERA in his next eight, an 8.27 ERA in his four starts in August and this latest outing.
“He just trusts his throws in the strike zone,” Mendoza said.
The Mets had planned to give Quintana an extended rest after that start, not using him until the final weekend of the season against Milwaukee, while they started Luis Severino, David Peterson and Sean Manaea against Atlanta. This dominance could change those plans.
The Mets prevailed against a bad team
The Mets have beaten Washington in three of their four series meetings this season, and their 11-2 record against the Nats is their second-best record against a division opponent (only the 1986 team had a 17-1 record against the Pirates).
If the Mets finish ahead of Atlanta, their success against the Nationals will be a big reason why. New York’s 11-2 record against Washington is compared to Atlanta’s 5-8 record against the Nats. That’s a difference of six games.
(Photo by Jose Quintana: Dustin Satloff / Getty Images)
