The Mets Are Suddenly Coming Through in Key Spots

Mark Vientos doubled with two outs and a runner on third in the fourth inning. Then Brandon Nimmo singled him home. After a Tyrone Taylor walk, Jeff McNeil singled in another run.

Those were three of 11 hits with runners in scoring position in a 13-3 victory Monday over the Phillies that delighted the 41,983 at Citi Field who saw the Mets (70-61) pull within six games of first place with 31 games left in the season. Hitting with RISP—well, the lack of it—was a consistent issue for the Mets up until recently when something mysteriously clicked.

“Well, we’re getting a lot better results with runners in scoring position,” manager Carlos Mendoza said when asked about New York’s offensive outbursts over the last few weeks. “I think that’s been the biggest key. We create traffic and it’s not a secret. I’ve been sitting here answering questions about struggles with runners in scoring position, but I feel like for quite a bit now we’ve been doing a really good job, especially with two outs.

“Getting two-out hits. Going the other way. We saw it with Jeff (McNeil). We saw it with Luis (Torrens). Just a lot of people up and down the lineup, a lot of people just having good at-bats. But overall I think with runners in scoring position we’re doing a better job.”

Since August 8, a 16-game span, New York has gone 53-for-144 (.368 batting average) and a 1.079 OPS with RISP. The recent stretch of clutch hitting has vaulted the Mets’ overall season splits (.249/.340/.434) to 14th/11th/8th in the major leagues. With two outs, they’ve hit .400 with an 1.185 OPS.

Previous to August 8, the Mets were slashing just .231/.325/.402/.726 with RISP. Calls for the defenestration of hitting coach Eric Chavez have subsided for now.

Vientos, who got the Mets on the board with the third-inning double, broke a 3-3 tie with a second two-out, RBI double in the fifth. He’s one of several Mets who have been poor with RISP (15-for-80, .188/.266/.475) but delivering lately. He is on an eight-game hitting streak and has five home runs and a .956 OPS in August.

“I think we’re doing what we expect ourselves to do honestly,” he said. “I think from 1 through 9 we’re a great lineup. Not only our pitching and our bullpen, but like I’m just talking about our bats. We just last couple of games we’ve been doing our thing and I think it’s just like what we expect out of ourselves. I don’t think it’s anything less than that.”

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