NEW YORK — For the first time in 16 years, the Mets have a chance not only to win the NL East, but to put it on hold before early September.
Their 6-0 win over the Phillies on Sunday was never in doubt, with New York’s usual brand of sharp opening pitching, effective relief work and a relentless offensive attack. Chris Bassitt put on five zeros to extend his streak of innings to 24 without a earned run. Reliever Trevor Williams ran his own such streak for 20 innings. Daniel Vogelbach hit a homer to please the crowd, Francisco Lindor set a season record for RBIs with a Mets shortstop, and the club won a rubber game for the 14th time in 18 attempts.
In short, the Mets did what they’ve been doing all season, and the result allowed them to maintain their 5 1/2 game advantage over the Braves, who embark on another key showdown this week in Atlanta. If the Mets can even split that four-game streak, they’ll crush the Braves’ best chance of coming from behind to defend their NL East title. If the Mets win three or four, they will effectively stitch the division together before the school returns to session.
On September 5th, New York will begin a streak of 13 straight games against clear non-competitors. It’s one of the easiest September schedules in the game and gives the Mets an excellent opportunity to maintain the lead they’re building here in August.
And the Mets have to build. Despite continued pressure from Atlanta overall, the Mets have maintained first place by winning eight of their last nine, ten of their last 12 and 17 of their last 20 — mostly against division opponents. They dismiss all challengers, including the Phillies, who came to Queens after winning 12 times in 14 games themselves.
“You don’t think about it,” manager Buck Showalter said of the Mets. “These guys get it. They faced the season, the competition and the daily grind with a lot of maturity. … I just think they’re staying in the moment really well.”
The Mets now have 35 games over .500, which is their highest mark since 2006. Only four Mets clubs have ever surpassed that level. They are also 14-0-2 in a row against NL East opponents, marking the longest unbeaten season-opening streak by a major league team since the Braves — with four Hall of Famers — also won or tied 16 straight series in 1999.
Though the Mets only have one surefire Hall of Famer in their ranks, the Mets’ rotation of Max Scherzer, Jacob deGrom, Bassitt, Carlos Carrasco, and Taijuan Walker still managed to get a pretty accurate picture of these ’90s Braves. The New York pitchers allowed just two runs against the Phillies all weekend, the fewest in a three-game streak since 2014.
“I think we’re still very short-sighted in that there’s no way we’re trying to look ahead,” Bassitt said. “I mean, Max tosses it to Jake, Jake tosses it to me, I toss it to Cookie, now Cookie tosses it to Tai. We have five veterans who are really, really good and can set up a lot of zeros.”
Of course not everything is perfect in Flushing. Just as one half of the Mets’ third-base squad (Eduardo Escobar) was healing, the other half (Luis Guillorme) suffered a groin injury that could sideline him for the upcoming Braves series. Brandon Nimmo sags despite showing signs of life with a leadoff double in Sunday’s win. Left-hander relief remains an unresolved issue for the Mets, who watched Joely Rodríguez struggle in the ninth inning of a six-run game.
But by and large, these are quibbles — at worst, cracks that could later widen. Right now, the Mets are thriving and have a chance to make significant strides toward their Premier League title in seven years.
In 2015, the Mets took control of the NL East in early August but didn’t firmly wrap things up until mid-September. The last time they did so was in 2006, when they got through a mediocre September stretch with a double-digit lead in August.
These Mets may block thoughts of similar accomplishments, but with another winning streak in the books, they understand the opportunity that lies ahead.
“It’s a big week for us to play the Braves and then the Phillies and then the Braves and then the Phillies again,” said second baseman Jeff McNeil. “We’re going to go out there and do the same thing we’ve been doing all year: come out ready to play, play one game at a time, and then we’ll see where we are at the end of the week.”