Maybe the Mets really can survive the looming June gauntlet without Jacob deGrom and Max Scherzer. Their lineup seems prepared to slug its way through the brutal stretch of playoff contenders.
The latest evidence arrived Saturday night, in an 8-2 pounding of the Phillies that exhibited this group’s versatility.
There was a long Jeff McNeil home run. Small ball that produced an early run. And the two key middle-of-the-order cogs, Pete Alonso and Francisco Lindor, produced when called upon, as the Mets beat the Phillies for the eighth time in 11 tries and now lead the Braves by a season-high 8.5 games in the NL East.
They improved to 31-17, equaling the high-water mark of the season.
The Mets entered the day second in baseball in runs scored, behind only the powerhouse Dodgers, and have now scored at least five runs for the seventh time in 10 games.
Lindor continued his recent hot streak with three RBIs — he has now driven in a run in six straight games, a career-high — and scored twice. Alonso set a Mets record for most RBIs in the month of May with 29, after driving in a run with a sacrifice fly. Jeff McNeil produced the big blow, a go-ahead, three-run homer in the fourth through raindrops, continuing a season-long trend of the Mets responding immediately after falling behind.
The lineup wasn’t even at full strength. Leadoff man Brandon Nimmo sat with a sprained right wrist that required a cortisone shot, but Luis Guillorme filled his role to a tee, reaching base in his first four at-bats. He started a three-run fifth inning with a bunt single that ultimately put the game out of reach.
There was no big uprising from the Phillies this time, after they nearly rallied from seven runs down to win the night before. The Mets’ bullpen delivered four shutout innings, two from rookie Colin Holderman, who has yet to allow an earned run over his first six outings spanning eight innings.
The offensive outburst made a winner out of Taijuan Walker (3-0) despite a so-so performance. It was a slog for the right-hander, who was coming off seven shutout innings against the Rockies. His command was off and his location iffy, but he still limited the Phillies to two earned runs over five innings.
He played with fire in the fourth, allowing four of the first five Phillies to reach base. But after JT Realmuto’s two-run single, Walker retired Odubel Herrera on a pop up and after walking Johan Carmago to load the bases, retired Kyle Schwarber on a fly out. Walker got out of trouble in the fifth, after allowing consecutive singles to Bryce Harper and Nick Castellanos, when Lindor turned a 6-6-3 double play.
The game was never in doubt from that point on. The Mets kept on adding on, clinching the three-game series victory. Most importantly, they are 2-0 on this six-game homestand against the Phillies and the Nationals that predates a 10-game west coast trip featuring the Dodgers, Angels and Padres. Altogether in June, the Mets will face likely playoff teams 17 times. The offense seems ready for the challenges that await.
