New York Mets Win Seven Straight To Extend Lead in NL East
It is early August and the New York Mets lead the National League East. That sounds like a true or false question, with the answer likely answered by most as false.
That of course would be true. True the Mets are in first place. That is right after their three comebacks in the final three innings to win 4-3, the New York Mets extended their lead atop the NL East to 2 ½ games over the Washington Nationals, as the Nationals blew a three run lead in a 5-4 loss to the Colorado Rockies.
Last weekend, entering their showdown with the Nationals, the Mets was trailing Washington by three games. The Mets have won seven straight since the start of that series.
The change of fortune for New York has been huge to say the least.
Just over a week ago, Wilmer Flores was crying on the field at shortstop thinking he was being traded but that trade fell through. The following day a three-run home run by Justin Upton in the ninth capped a six-run rally by San Diego to defeat the Mets.
The shift of fortune came shortly thereafter for the Mets.
On Friday of last week, the Mets acquired slugger Yoenis Cespedes from Detroit. They then swept the Nationals to reach a tie for first place in the division.
The Mets then traveled to Miami and were able to sweep the Marlins. On Friday, the Mets overcame a seventh inning 1-0 deficit, an eighth inning 2-1 deficit and a ninth inning 3-2 deficit to win for the seventh consecutive time.
Flores has been cheered since his crying episode both on the road and at Citi Field, and came up with a big play again on Friday. His single with two out in the ninth plated a run for Mets to take the lead.
The Mets cannot rest on their laurels as the season is far from being over, but they have shown over the last week that they can win big games and can overcome adversity to prevail. With one of the best starting rotations in all of baseball, the addition of Cespedes in the batting could be the last piece of the puzzle for the Mets in pushing them over the top and into the postseason.
Washington has another fine pitching staff and they will recover from this slide. The Mets must be ready for that so they can continue to hold an advantage heading to the final month and a half of the regular season.
