The Mets belted a season-high five home runs and scored the most runs they have all year in Saturday’s 13-2 win over the Braves.
Here are some takeaways…
1. The Mets hadn’t scored more than eight runs in a game all season entering Saturday – naturally, they almost scored that many in the sixth inning alone. Brandon Drury came up to pinch-hit in the pitcher’s spot, and promptly belted a two-run homer to give the Mets a 6-1 lead. James McCann (more on him later) then drove in another run with a single, which was his fourth hit of the night. Tomas Nido added an RBI single, and Billy McKinney blasted a three-run shot to give the Mets an 11-1 lead.
2. Saturday was the James McCann show. He got the scoring going with a solo home run with two outs in the first inning. He also doubled and scored on a Dominic Smith single in the third inning. Jonathan Villar blasted a no doubter into the apple to open up the fifth inning and give the Mets a 3-0 lead.
3. In his first start since May 17 after a brief IL stint, Taijuan Walker was more than solid in his five innings of work, tying a season-high eight strikeouts and allowing just two hits and one walk on 80 pitches. With that outing, Walker has the second-lowest ERA in Mets history (1.84) through nine starts with the team (Al Leiter, 1.49 ERA), per Mets PR.
4. Following Villar’s fifth inning homer, Francisco Lindor and McCann had back to back singles to put runners on the corners with none out, knocking Ian Anderson out of the game. With Sean Newcomb on the mound, Nido grounded into a fielder’s choice that drove in the Mets’ fourth run.
5. It came late, but Lindor added a two-run homer in the seventh inning, his first since May 15. It’s better than nothing for the superstar shortstop.
6. Cameron Maybin made some not-so-great history in the fourth inning. After lining out to right, he started his Mets career 0-for-27, the longest hitless streak to start a Mets tenure in franchise history. On an infield single in the sixth, though, he received a healthy ovation and cracked a smile.
Highlights
What’s next?
Jacob deGrom will take the ball in the series finale at 7:08 p.m., as the Braves will have lefty Max Fried on the mound.