Mets pick up badly-needed win heading into matchup against MLB's best
· Yahoo Sports
NEW YORK — The Mets do not have the luxury of worrying about the opponent on the other side of the diamond.
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Inconsistent performances have dropped the Mets back to eight games under .500 as they prepared to face the Braves, the best team in baseball beginning on Friday night.
The Mets did, however, pick up some badly-needed momentum on Thursday as the bats began to heat up on an arid afternoon and Juan Soto provided the lift with a go-ahead home run in the seventh inning as the Mets took down the Cardinals, 5-4, in front of 37,019 fans at Citi Field.
"We're ready for anybody," Soto said. "We come in and we focus about ourselves. We don't focus on anybody else. We come in every day, try to give our 100 percent and try to win a ball game."
It was a relatively complete performance for the Mets in a season that has been scant of many total team wins. They enter their next series 15 games back from the Braves in the NL East.
Christian Scott settled in after a rocky start, the Mets belted three home runs and the bullpen shut the door with 4⅓ scoreless innings down the stretch. They will need similar performances to knock off their rivals this weekend.
An explosive lift from Juan Soto, Jared Young
After the Mets had combined for two runs in the opening two games of the series against the Cardinals, there was an immediate sense of relief in the opening inning on Thursday.
While the Mets fell behind 1-0 on a solo home run by Alec Burleson, they made an immediate response, with Bo Bichette putting the Mets up on a two-run home run and Jared Young adding a solo shot to make it 3-1.
"When we're going well, you see the conviction when we're making swing decisions, the way the barrel's coming through the hitting zone," Carlos Mendoza said. "Right away, you saw it. I think you just set the tone for the whole team when you're able to get out of the gate put pressure on the pitcher on the other team."
It was a stark contrast from the first two games when the Mets were chasing to try and blast back into the game following early deficits. Soto doubled and scored the tying run on an RBI single by Jared Young in the fifth inning. Then, Soto put the Mets ahead for good on a hanging sweeper from left-hander JoJo Romero that he sent over the right-field wall.
It was Soto's first home run in June and first go-ahead home run after the seventh inning since July 27, 2025. The Mets are 15-5 this season when they hit multiple home runs in a game.
"That's what we play for, that's what we grind for, to get the tough situations and come through," Soto said. "Sometimes it gets a little harder, but that's what we work for and that's what we focus on and try to damage every time, even if it's a lefty or righty."
Mets bullpen comes through in a big way
After a pair of lopsided losses, Mendoza had his bullpen lined up in an ideal way to try and finally curb the Cardinals lineup for the final 13 outs in a one-run game.
For the first time since 2024, A.J. Minter, who missed most of last season, recorded four outs. He kept two baserunners stranded with a fly ball for the final out in the fifth and then sent down the next three Cardinals in order.
Brooks Raley worked around a two-out walk to keep the game scoreless and Luke Weaver and Devin Williams tossed perfect frames in the eighth and ninth.
"We're hungry to win. We're just like anybody else on our team," Weaver said. "We have to wait a while, we see how the game develops and we know what we need to do. It's not always perfect, but we rely on each other. We pick each other up when need be and called on."
The Mets' bullpen has been the Mets most reliable segment, with the fifth-best ERA (3.31), second-best WHIP (1.20) and fifth-lowest opponent's batting average (.220) in Major League Baseball.
Weaver has turned in 16 straight scoreless appearances, while Williams bounced back from allowing one earned run against the Padres by earned his ninth save.
"They're working as a unit," Mendoza said. "It's a group that understands their role and even when there's low leverage, the guys that are pitching, they (know) the importance of getting the job done without getting someone else hot or someone coming into the game, it has that trickle effect."
Christian Scott bends but doesn't break
The first home run to Burleson was a first-pitch, 94 mph fastball about an inch above the zone. The second? Another fastball that caught the meat of the plate.
And the third was a first-pitch sweeper on the inner third of the plate that Jimmy Crooks turned on.
For Scott, the first time through the lineup, all he could do was tip his cap and move on. He had only allowed one home run in his previous six starts.
"I feel like they had a good plan coming in, aggressive early on a couple of pitches that I thought were decently executed," Scott said. "(I was) able to stick to my game plan and really trust my stuff second time through and not get thrown off the game plan too much (after) a couple of hard hit balls there."
Unlike the previous two nights when Freddy Peralta and David Peterson allowed six earned runs apiece, Scott did not let it snowball.
He scattered two more hits and walked a batter but kept the Cardinals from adding to their lead while working 4⅔ innings and setting up the bullpen to come through.
"These guys are going to put their best swing all the time and they were super aggressive. You've got to give (Scott) some credit that he recognized that and was able to make some adjustments. He continued to stay on the attack. He settled in nicely, but they clipped him there a few times."
This article originally appeared on NorthJersey.com: NY Mets pick up needed win over Cardinals as Braves lurk