Is this team clicking at exactly the right time?
Despite having an injury-plagued season and facing an injury-riddled Marlins’ squad, it certainly does appear that way for the Mets.
Two home runs from Curtis Granderson? A four-hit game for Reyes to raise his average above .300?
It just can’t be. No Harvey. No Duda. No Wright. And now, no Matz or Walker.
This team is defying the critics and winning key games down the stretch to keep their postseason aspirations alive.
They are called the Amazins’ for a reason, right? Just ask the Mets of 1969 and 1973.
Despite a shaky start from Seth Lugo, the Mets came back from an early 2-0 hole to take the opening pair of a crucial four-game set against the Marlins on Tuesday at Citi Field.
Lugo finished strong though, tossing six innings of five-hit, two-run, one-walk, four-strikeout ball.
“I knew he (Seth) had a good arm,” stated New York manager Terry Collins. “I spent 12 years in the Pacific Coast League, in that division. I’m not surprised by any numbers out there…What we were hoping was that he could pound the strike zone with quality stuff and he’s done that.”
It was everyone, but Yoenis Cespedes (0-4, K), that contributed to the Metsies’ offensive output.
That has to make any Met fan feel relieved. That a player not donning No. 52 is collecting hits for the Mets’ once-anemic hitting attack.
It wasn’t that long ago that this team was left for dead. They had lost five of six to the cellar-dwelling Diamondbacks.
Somehow, the tide has turned. And the Flushing Faithful are once again behind their beloved Miracle Mets and hoping for a return to October baseball.
“We just have to take care of our own business and win as many games as we possibly can,” Collins commented. “If we accomplish that, at the end of the year, hopefully we will be where we want to get to. If we are worried about somebody else, it kind of takes the focus away of what you have to do in the field.”
The magic just may be back.