Three takeaways from the Mets' nine-game homestand
Mets shortstop Francisco Lindor and first baseman Pete Alonso celebrate with teammates after defeating the Colorado Rockies at Citi Field on Sunday. Credit: Noah K. Murray
Here are three takeaways from the Mets’ nine-game homestand, during which they went 7-2:
1. The Mets can play with the Dodgers
It’s not exactly proper payback after the Dodgers beat the Mets in six games in last season’s NLCS, but the Mets opened the homestand by taking two of three from the World Series champs after losing the opener in 13 innings.
David Peterson and Kodai Senga stymied the Dodgers in the final two games and Edwin Diaz and Reed Garrett earned saves as the Mets thrilled jam-packed crowds and did something the Yankees weren’t able to do this weekend in Los Angeles: win a series against the Dodgers.
After Sunday’s win over Colorado, the Mets headed to Los Angeles for a four-game series with the Dodgers that begins Monday night. It will be late (with the exception of Thursday’s afternoon game), but it should be fun.
2. Do the right thing
The Mets decided to move up the start time of Wednesday’s series finale against the White Sox from 7:10 p.m. to 1:10 p.m. because of the threat of bad weather. It was the right call.
We criticize the teams when they make fans sit through terrible weather to watch a game and/or wait until multiple hours past game time to postpone a game that should have been banged before anyone trekked out to the ballpark.
So kudos to the Mets and MLB for being proactive and rescheduling the game. Yes, it was tough on many folks with just 26 hours notice, but the Mets offered tickets to an upcoming game (with limitations) for those who had seats but couldn’t use them.
3. Taking care of business
After winning the first two against Colorado, the Mets could have taken a mental day off on Sunday, and it looked as if that might be the case when six of the first 10 Mets batters struck out against rookie lefthander Carson Palmquist.
But Francisco Lindor, Pete Alonso and Juan Soto homered in the same game as Mets for the first time to power the sweep of Colorado (9-50).
Yes, a major-league team is 9-50. The biggest takeaway from that is there’s no way that can be good for baseball.
But that’s not the Mets’ problem. And Mets fans wasted no time razzing Yankees fans because the Yankees took only two of three from the Rockies last week.
Be careful, though: The Mets play in Denver next weekend after what should be a bruising four-game series against the Dodgers with no days off. Another sweep is possible, but it's not guaranteed.
Anthony Rieber covers baseball, as well as the NFL, NBA and NHL. He has worked at Newsday since Aug. 31, 1998, and has been in his current position since July 5, 2004.
