Hitting an opponent for 14 runs on 22 hits isn’t something they look forward to every day, but the Mets I believe the more consistent offense they’ve produced recently — an MLB-leading .798 OPS over the past 30 days — has always been something they’ve been capable of this season.
“This is what was imagined when you put this lineup on paper,” Brandon Nimmo said after going 3-for-4 with a home run and four RBI in Monday’s 14-2 win over the Texas Rangers.
Francisco LindorWho continued its torrid pace since taking the lead at 4-for-4, he said, “Hitting is contagious and it feels like we’re in one of those stages where everything is coming our way.”
For manager Carlos Mendozathe Mets knew the offense was capable of putting together some big games like Monday’s, “one through nine are some really good hitters, now that they’re clicking, we’ll see.”
“We have good batsmen,” the captain continued. “The way the guys prepare, the way they talk, our game plan, our approaches, our hitting coaches are doing a really good job.
“And just stay positive. We knew that at the end of the day we had good players, good hitters. Just trust our process, preparation and we’ve already seen the results.”
The Mets have now won 12 of their last 16 games to snap out of a funk that lasted much of the first third of the season thanks to steady hitting from JD Martinez It is Mars Starling and an emerging Lindor. Now the The cavalry is coming in the form of Nimmo, Pedro Alonsowho had three hits and two RBI on Monday, and Marcos Vientosthree hits, too.
“It’s hard all season to get everyone clicking at the same time, but now we have a lot of guys from top to bottom making great hits,” Nimmo said. “I just think you ride this wave as much as you can.
“We have a lot of veterans on the team who understand this isn’t going to last forever. But, you just try to keep going as long as you can.
Nimmo singled out Martinez for “saving our asses” with a two-run home run in last Thursday’s 2-1 victory over Miami.
“You’re going to go through stretches where one guy seems to be carrying the load a little bit,” he said. “But then you’ll also go through those where it feels like we’re clicking from top to bottom on all cylinders.”
Lindor said the roll happened when hitters tried to stay within themselves at the plate. That was something the Mets did well on Monday, when they had a string of eight singles to drive in the game’s four runs.
“We just have to keep pedaling as long as we can, stay consistent, bounce ideas off each other… and then stay within ourselves,” the shortstop said. “Sometimes we try to do a little too much, we focus on running instead of just staying within ourselves and being consistent with our process and our plan and executing it.”
Nimmo’s advice for keeping is similar, but even simpler.
“You just try and don’t do much,” he said. “Because usually when you start trying to do too much, that’s when things start to go wrong.”
