After a tumultuous ending to the first half for the New York Mets, the start of the second half was more of the same. The team dropped their first two games of a six-game homestand to the Cincinnati Reds, and times were looking dire.
However, the Mets will head to California on the right foot, winning four straight games to finish a 4-2 homestand and a three-game sweep of the Los Angeles Angels.
“It’s always good to continue to play well at home, especially coming out of the break,” manager Carlos Mendoza said after Wednesday’s win. “You lose the first two and then you’re walking out of here on a 4-2 homestand, that’s really good.”
New York salvaged the finale against the Reds and won all three contests against the Angels across their winning streak. A trend that was apparent in all four games was strong pitching and contributions from up and down the staff.
The Mets got a quality start from David Peterson in the Reds finale, going six innings of one-run ball with four strikeouts. Against the Angels, Frankie Montas gave New York just short of six innings to allow them to earn a comeback win, and Sean Manaea gutted out five innings to earn his first win of 2025.
Manaea’s still ramping back up from an oblique injury that kept him off the mound all year. Mendoza said Manaea wasn’t at his sharpest, needing 82 pitches to get through his five innings, but it’s a step in the right direction for the left-hander.
“I definitely didn’t feel great out there, but good enough to get the job done,” Manaea said Wednesday. “Fastball was good, slider was good, only threw one changeup. Effective enough. I think stamina-wise, just not full there yet. It’s just building up from there.”
The bullpen was also able to get the big outs when needed. Kodai Senga struggled in Monday’s opener, but a combined effort of Kevin Herget, Chris Devinski, Huascar Brazoban and Brooks Raley gave the Mets a chance to come back, with Edwin Diaz slamming the door after blowing a save the day prior.
Tuesday’s game saw Rico Garcia, Reed Garrett and Ryne Stanek combine to finish off Montas’ victory. After Manaea left Wednesday, Brazoban, Raley and Diaz each gave the Mets scoreless appearances, picking up a rocky return from Jose Butto from illness.
Also apparent was timely hitting from up and down the lineup. Brandon Nimmo continues to be productive as the team’s leadoff man, but the likes of Francisco Lindor and Pete were ice cold. The bottom of the order stepped up over their first three wins. The likes of Tyrone Taylor, Brett Baty and a returning Francisco Alvarez had big knocks, but the top guys broke out of slumps on Wednesday.
After a career-worst 0-for-31 stretch, Lindor broke out of it with a pair of run-scoring singles. Alonso was batting .160 over his last 15 games before the series finale, but had a single and monster three-run homer to end his slump. While droughts are part of the game, it’s always about putting their best effort out and getting better.
“I’m human,” Lindor said. I don’t want to go through [a slump], but I know I’m going to go through it. It sucks, put your head down and work, try to get better.”
“The homer obviously is super great, but personally, when I’m hitting the ball to the big part of the field, that’s when I feel good,” Alonso said. “I just want to put my best foot forward every at-bat and give it my all.”
“We’re going to need those guys,” Mendoza said. “We know that they’re going through it, but they’re too good of hitters, they’re too good of players, and I’m glad that they were able to come through for us today.”
The Mets will head to Oracle Park and face the San Francisco Giants this weekend before visiting the San Diego Padres to wrap up the trip. Mets right-hander Clay Holmes will oppose Logan Webb at 10:15 p.m. EST Friday.
