Talk about Fourth of July fireworks.
The Mets supplied an early display of firepower Sunday afternoon against the Cubs, leaving Chicago’s North Siders battered and bruised during a four-game sweep, capped off by a 14-3 rout.
The Mets tied a franchise record with 22 hits in a home game and blasted five home runs for the sixth time in team history — second time in three days — to highlight the carnage they are capable of.
It also showed the team is both resilient and capable of raising its level of play when most needed.
“Coming into these four games, I think the guys knew they had a huge challenge ahead of them, and I think they picked up their game,” manager Terry Collins said after his team’s fourth straight win. “When you face [John] Lackey, [Jason] Hammel, [Jake] Arrieta and [Jon] Lester, that’s not something fun to look forward to. I think they just said, ‘Hey, we got to get it going,’ and they did.”
The four-game set marked an unexpected turnaround for a Mets offense that struggled through four consecutive losses against the Braves and Nationals prior to facing the Cubs. The Mets had been averaging a meager 1.5 runs per game.
But the Mets exploded against the Cubs for 32 runs — an average of eight per game — while facing Chicago’s top four starters with only Lackey’s ERA above 3.00 entering the series.
Seemingly every Mets player experienced a breakout, and on Sunday, the offense was led by third baseman Wilmer Flores, who became just the second Mets player in history to go for 6-for-6 in a game. He also blasted two homers.
Backup catcher Rene Rivera added a two-run homer of his own, while Curtis Granderson added a solo shot and Kelly Johnson had a pinch-hit homer in the seventh. Every Mets’ starter, including starting pitcher Noah Syndergaard, recorded a hit.
“It was fun,” Rivera said. “Once you score runs, the dugout comes alive and everybody cheers for each other. That’s how it should be. It’s a kids’ game, so you have to have fun out there, and we’ve been doing that the last couple of games.”
It all started during Thursday night’s comeback.
Coming off those four consecutive losses, the Mets trailed 3-1 entering the seventh inning when rookie Brandon Nimmo sent the ninth pitch of his at-bat off of Joel Peralta into the outfield for an RBI single. A few batters later, Nimmo scored the go-ahead run on a defensive miscue.
Then, Jeurys Familia survived a shaky ninth to secure the comeback win, which propelled the Mets to a sweep.
“I think it caught on Thursday night,” Collins said. “We were coming off a tough series in Washington, falling behind arguably one of the best teams in baseball, and to come back and win the game, I think it really got us started for the weekend.”
Whether it’s the spark the offense needs for the rest of the season remains to be seen.
