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The Mets are the kings of the Citi and at the moment the kings of the sport.
The team with the best record at home and the best record period is playing its best baseball of this short season, putting on display arguably its crispest game of the season.
Mets bats remained scorching and have scored 34 runs in three games.
Mets defenders seemed to try to outdo one another during one spectacular half-inning.
And Mets pitching arms quietly lowered their collective ERA to an MLB-best 2.60.
Carlos Mendoza revealed discouraging news regarding A.J. Minter on Tuesday afternoon, and then watched a just about wholly encouraging 8-3, series-opening victory over the Diamondbacks in front of 35,218 at Citi Field.
The Mets improved to 13-1 in Queens.
Overall, the club is 21-9, and if the record is inflated by a relatively easy stretch of the schedule early, the playoff-caliber Diamondbacks were supposed to represent a step up in competition.
For one game at least, the Mets elevated their own game even further.
A four-run second inning and a three-run third essentially ended any drama within an hour of play.
David Peterson was solid for five, one-run innings, but the gloves behind him were better.
José Buttó and Kevin Herget (who made his club debut) combined for four innings in which they allowed two runs (one earned), the unit continuing to look to be among the game’s strongest even as Minter could be lost for the season.
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The Mets rode the momentum from Monday’s 19-run outburst in Washington and received contributions from just about everywhere, the homers coming from Francisco Lindor, Starling Marte and Pete Alonso.
The onslaught began in the second inning, when three two-out hits — an RBI double from Tyrone Taylor, an RBI single from José Azocar and a two-run blast from Lindor (his sixth of the season) frustrated Eduardo Rodriguez.
The batting practice continued an inning later, when Alonso walked and then jogged around the bases on Marte’s cloud-brushing homer into the left field seats.
Luisangel Acuña (who racked up two more hits and is batting .300) singled, stole second and glided home on another two-out hit from Taylor, who might have had the best all-around game on the team.
Taylor and Lindor were the defensive stars of a top of the fourth inning that was as sparkling as any this season. The plays in a 1-2-3 frame from Peterson:
- Randal Grichuk smoked a rare groundout that touched three infield gloves. A diving Mark Vientos dived to his left and could not stop the ball, but was able to bat it into the air — directly to Lindor, who backhanded and threw across the diamond for the out.
- Two pitches later, Lourdes Gurriel Jr. drilled a would-be double into deep left-center, where Taylor sprinted with his back to the plate. The center fielder, who could see a dip in playing time with Jeff McNeil back, went airborne for a full-extension dive, stealing an extra-base hit with a backhanded grab on the warning track.
- Five pitches later, Eugenio Suárez blistered a one-hopper that brought Lindor to his knees, but he fielded cleanly, rose and threw him out.
Awaiting in the home dugout was a line of high-fives as if a few fielders had just hit home runs.
After Taylor’s hand was worn out, Peterson gave him a hug on a night of plenty of embraces.
English (US)