You have to go back to May 7 to find the last time the Mets were a .500 team. For those inquiring minds, that’s 50 days, or just over seven weeks, ago.
The Mets defeated the Cardinals 7-5 at Busch Stadium that day, with José Butto—remember him?—earning the victory. The sunset in New York was not yet 8:00pm (7:58pm, to be exact). NYC public school children still had a ways to go before summer vacation (which began earlier today).
With an 12-2 victory over the Yankees at Citi Field on Wednesday night, the Mets clawed their way back up to .500. It marked the second time in three years that the Mets swept their crosstown counterparts at Citi Field, after not accomplishing the feat in any season between 2014 and 2021.
The Mets now have a 39-39 record, remaining 1.5 games back in the NL Wild Card race after the Padres picked up their third straight win to keep pace. Although, with the Diamondbacks loss, the Mets have, at least for the time being, leapfrogged every team ahead of them in the race, needing to just eclipse San Diego to climb into the final NL playoff spot.
Wednesday’s game kicked off in similar fashion to Tuesday’s contest, with the Mets in early trouble. After Mark Vientos robbed Anthony Volpe of a potential leadoff double with a stellar diving play—Pete Alonso also extended himself to save Vientos’ throw and retire Volpe—Sean Manaea walked the next three batters to load the bases. In doing so, he became the first Mets starter ever to walk the bases .
