When in the course of human events it became necessary for the Mets to dissolve the bands of mediocrity, they went out and swept the National League’s best team.
Sunday’s historic Citi Field outburst served as the John Hancock on this Declaration of Relevance: The Mets promise to keep fighting throughout the long summer. They are scoring runs again and more closely resemble what was expected before their annual June swoon arrived.
It all sounds good, and the four-game sweep that became complete with Sunday’s 14-3 demolition of the Cubs might ultimately be remembered as the turning point in the Mets’ season. But for now, the Mets can’t afford to take the approach they have accomplished something.
After all, how many times over the years have the Marlins arrived to destroy the good vibes surrounding the Mets? It seems like something that occurs at least once annually.
But say this: The Mets are creating a buzz again, and that is all they could have wanted after a lethargic road trip that included three straight losses at Washington in which their lineup was neutered.
So much for the aura of these big, bad Cubs, who have lost eight straight games against the Mets dating to last year’s NLCS. In the 2015 regular season, the Mets went 0-7 against the Cubs.
“It’s just two, I’ve always thought, evenly matched teams,” Cubs manager Joe Maddon said. “They hit homers and pitch well. We can hit homers and pitch well. We play good defense and they have a pretty solid defense right now. It’s like looking in the mirror sometimes.”
The Mets’ 22 hits Sunday tied a franchise record for a home game. Then there was Wilmer Flores (6-for-6), who joined Edgardo Alfonzo as the only player in Mets history with six hits in a game.
Those are hardly the kind of numbers you would expect in a game started by Jon Lester — who on Saturday was named the NL’s Pitcher of the Month for June — but the Mets were on a roll all weekend and weren’t going to stop after scoring seven runs in the first two innings Sunday.
A night earlier the Mets frolicked against Jake Arrieta, who had staked his own claim to the NL starting assignment in the All-Star Game after Clayton Kershaw was placed on the disabled list last week.
“We had a hard time here with some really good pitchers — guys who are having real good years had a difficult day,” Maddon said. “Jon Lester just won the award for the previous month and has a tough time. [Sunday] is just an easy game for me to throw in the trash can.”
The Mets should appreciate their success against the Cubs, but have to view these next seven games, against the Marlins and Nationals, with even greater urgency.
If the Mets really are only playing for the wild card, the Marlins are a team they may have to battle for a berth. And, of course, any dreams of rebounding to win the NL East start with beating the Nationals head-to-head.
“This is where we caught fire last year, and we need to do it again,” manager Terry Collins said.
“We went through a lull last year where we didn’t hit. This year we’ve gone through a lull again, maybe for a lot of reasons — medically could be one of them. [As] we head into the last seven games of this homestand, I like what’s going on.”
Two big outbursts offensively coupled with big pitching performances over the weekend from Bartolo Colon, Jacob deGrom, Noah Syndergaard, Addison Reed and Jeurys Familia, among others, have the Mets believing anything is possible again.
“We play hard,” Flores said. “We were ready for these guys, they throw the first pitch for a strike, and we were ready for it.”
The Mets’ Declaration of Relevance has been delivered.
