The fun portion of the baseball season at Citi Field ended Thursday night. The Mets slaughtered the Nationals 10-0, which made it 20-1 across the last two nights, which made it 11-2 in 13 games on the year against their former tormenters from the District.
They scored nine runs in a fourth inning that had 34,196 people (and one purple creature) dancing in the aisles and roaring at peak volume. They got another seven shutout innings out of erstwhile bust Jose Quintana, his string of scoreless innings now sitting at 22 ²/₃.
They even got another two hits and a second straight tack-on home run from Luisangel Acuna, who is on pace to be the greatest player who ever lived (small-sample-size division). The Braves, Diamondbacks and Padres all won so it wasn’t a perfect day, but once the scoreboard started spinning like a pinball machine there wasn’t much complaint.
And now, the bell lap.
Now, a 10-game stretch to end the season against two playoff teams (Philly and Milwaukee) bookending another team trying to extend its spell over the Mets for the better part of a third straight decade (Atlanta). The varsity schedule kicks in Thursday night, four home games against the Phillies.
Brandon Nimmo, for one, is ready. At the end of an interview with SNY’s Steve Gelbs, Nimmo — a three-run homer for him, too, after so many frustrating at-bats since the All-Star break — offered up exactly the kind of platitude you’d expect given the coming challenge:
“We’re ready to go,” he said, smiling as ever. “This is gonna be playoff baseball!”
There were still plenty of fans loitering inside the yard. They were jazzed. One leather-lunged screamer in front of the press box shrieked: “OMG, LGM!”
And then Nimmo turned it into a tent revival. He turned away from Gelbs and he turned toward the stands and he utilized his best Billy Sunday voice:
“Mets fans, we need you guys to fill this place up!
This place needs to be rocking on Thursday, Friday, Saturday and Sunday!
We need your help! We need everybody to get out here! We need this place full!
This is playoff baseball! It’s what you guys want!
Let’s go! LET’S GO METS!”
Now, on one level, it is a bit sad that the Mets’ $162 million outfielder felt compelled to implore Mets fans to flood the zone this weekend, after modest crowds totaling just over 46,000 attended the week’s first two games.
And you suspect that changing out the Nats for the Phillies and the reality that the Mets hold their own fate in their own hands will probably swell the ranks the next few days. But it’s also telling that a player who makes $162 million was so completely engaged in the moment that he thought to bring the subject up.
Nimmo’s having a blast, despite his extended offensive tour of the wilderness, and he wants to share. His teammates are having a hell of a time. The starters act like the cool kids in school every night in the dugout, as they celebrate one terrific start after another, and they want to share. The veterans are getting a kick out of Acuna. And everyone seems smitten by Jose Iglesias, who seemingly makes five plays every day, both sides of the ball, that fall somewhere between helpful and holy s[moke].
All of this without Francisco Lindor the last three days, too.
“We haven’t done anything yet,” manager Carlos Mendoza insisted again Wednesday night, and you can appreciate why he says this, and that on its face what he says is true. But not entirely true. What the Mets have done is given their fans these coming 10 days. They’ve given the city a chance to ponder New York, New York in the same postseason for only the sixth time since 1956.
It’s been fun for everyone getting here.
Now the varsity season starts. Now the Phillies, Braves and Brewers lay ahead, and the Mets have to needle their way through and stand up to both recent history and their fans’ own worst fears. The Phillies love doing mean things to the Mets in late September. The Brewers, next weekend, may be playing for nothing, or they may be fighting for a bye.
And the Braves?
They’re banged-up, bruised, battered. They’ve lost some awful games this month. But until proven otherwise, they’re entitled to believe that when they stare the Mets in the eye, the Mets are the ones who will blink.
It’s on the Mets to disprove that. Look, the Mets have been better than all of those teams since June 1. They’ve been hotter than anyone these last three weeks. That ought to count for something. And will. The moment they make the Braves blink. The moment they eke by the Phillies and the Brewers. The moment they clinch a spot in the playoffs.
That’s when the fun can really begin.