Mets Continue Historic Start With Big Road Trip

 

Chris Bassitt. @Mets.

The Mets beat the St. Louis Cardinals, 3-0, on Tuesday night, to run their record to a Major League Baseball-best 14-5, and four wins out of five on their road trip in Arizona, where they took two of three over the Diamonbacks, and St. Louis.

Chris Bassitt, who had a mediocre outing against San Francisco last Wednesday, rebounded to throw six shutout innings, allowing just two hits and three walks, while striking out six. He is now 3-1 on the season, with a 2.25 ERA (earned run average). Drew Smith, Adam Ottavino, and Edwin Diaz (who earned his third save) each threw an inning out of the bullpen. Smith was the only one of the three to allow a hit, and the Brooklyn native Ottavino struck out two.

It was the Mets' fourth shutout already, which leads the Major Leagues. The Mets have allowed only four runs in their prior three games, and in the five games on the trip, they have posted a 2.80 ERA (14 earned runs in 45.0 innings) with 14 walks and 49 strikeouts. 

The Mets opened the series with a stirring five-run ninth inning comeback to give them a 5-2 victory, which means if the Mets win Wednesday afternoon, it will be their first sweep of the Cardinals since April 1-4, 2007, in St. Louis.

This start is now among one of the best in Mets franchise history. Their 14-5 record through the first 19 games is second-best to the 1986 team's 15-4 mark. The two other teams that started 14-5 were 2015 and 2018. Interesting to note that two of those three teams (1986 and 2015) reached the World Series, with the 1986 team winning it all.

The Mets' win over St. Louis Tuesday gave them six straight series vistories to open the season, which is a team record. This surpasses the five straight by the 2018 Mets. The last team in baseball to win six series in a row at the start was the 2019 Tampa Bay Rays.

The Mets have a .737 winning percentage this month, which is second in franchise history for March/April, second once again to the 1986 team, which had an .813 mark because they held a 13-3 record. The 2018 Mets have the record for wins in the first month with 17, as they finished March/April that season at 17-9 (.654). If the Mets win Wednesday afternoon and the first two against the Phillies over the weekend, they will have 17 wins and match that mark.