Mets get off to a solid start in San Diego

by Brian Erni April 28, 2018

This isn’t the same old Mets? Prove it. That was the refrain from fans before Friday’s series in San Diego kicked off, and New York got right to work on making good on that promise.

It’s early, sure, but the Mets needed to get Thursday’s loss off their backs as soon as possible. The 13-inning defeat in St. Louis marked the third straight series they had dropped, and with the Padres struggling, New York couldn’t afford to put themselves behind the 8 ball with Jacob deGrom on the hill.

Straight filth. 😍 pic.twitter.com/sTpaakJXpr
— New York Mets (@Mets) April 28, 2018

Fortunately, Jake was masterful again and finally got a win to show for it. The dormant bats woke up late — only one run deep into the seventh inning isn’t going to cut it on most nights, but it did on Friday — punctuated by an Asdrubal Cabrera three-run bomb. And the Mets navigated a shaky Matt Harvey ninth to get off the snide.

First-pitch ambush. 💪💪💪 pic.twitter.com/uEUnzOcRlE
— New York Mets (@Mets) April 28, 2018

“Must win” is a term we throw around haphazardly, and I don’t really put any one game into that category this early into the season. But baseball is a game of trends, and the Mets haven’t been on a good one lately. The hot start is a fading memory. Coming into Friday, the Mets had lost eight of 12. These match up against the Pads offer a chance for a bit of a reset; an opportunity for a superior team to assert their authority and impose their will, wiping away some of the frustration of the last two weeks in the process.

To that end, Friday night’s victory was a much needed start. Now go out and finish.