With Monday night's 16-7 drubbing of the Philadelphia Phillies, the New York Mets have won four in a row and upped their lead in the National League East to 5 1/2 games.
All season long the Mets have found success with their pitching, but their recent hot streak has been the result of an offensive explosion. New York has scored 49 runs in its last four games, a massive spike from the less than four runs per game the team was averaging before this streak began.
The impressive amount of production begs the question: Are the Mets more than just playoff contenders?
Jayson Stark of ESPN.com seems to think so, joining Mike & Mike Tuesday morning to explain why New York could make the World Series out of the NL.
"When you look at the Mets' lineup and look at their rotation, that's another team nobody would want to play," Stark said.
Buster Olney of ESPN.com also chimes in on the Mets, calling the club a "dangerous team" and explaining why they could match up well against opposing teams' left-handed aces (think Clayton Kershaw of the Los Angeles Dodgers or Madison Bumgarner of the San Francisco Giants) in the postseason.
It's worth noting that Monday night's historic performance against Philadelphia, which featured a franchise-record eight home runs, wouldn't have been possible without the return of David Wright. Playing in his first game since Apr. 14 after missing several months dealing with spinal stenosis in his lower back, Wright homered in his first at-bat and went 2-for-5 with three runs scored. The Mets' captain set the tone with his performance, Tyler Kepner of the New York Times writes.
Here are a few other stories making their way around baseball today.
Austin Jackson: The Seattle Mariners outfielder cleared waivers and has been the subject of trade talks recently, Jon Morosi of Fox Sports tweets, citing sources. The 28-year-old Jackson has had an inconsistent season at the plate thus far, slashing .259/.302/.364 and striking out a fairly decent amount (103 times in 398 at-bats). However, Jackson had several successful seasons with the Detroit Tigers before being traded to Seattle last season. If the Mariners are truly interested in dealing Jackson, who is set to hit free agency this offseason, it'll be interesting to see which teams emerge for his services over the next few days.
Quintin Berry: The Chicago Cubs signed Berry to a minor league contract, Bruce Levine of WSCR-AM tweets. It was around this time two years ago that the Boston Red Sox acquired Berry from the Kansas City Royals, using him as a pinch runner down the stretch on their way to a World Series championship. Perhaps the Cubs are hoping to do the same with the 30-year-old speedster this year? Berry didn't do much at the plate with Boston's Triple-A affiliate in Pawtucket this season but still managed to swipe 35 bags before being released last week. He's also a perfect 30-for-30 in stolen base attempts at the major league level in his career (including postseason). Time will tell how the Cubs plan to use Berry, but he would need to be added to their major league roster by the end of the month in order to participate in the postseason.
Jeff Francoeur: The Phillies outfielder was pulled back from waivers after a team claimed him, Jerry Crasnick of ESPN.com tweets. With Philadelphia unable to work out a deal with the claiming team, Francoeur can no longer be traded this month. The 31-year-old is enjoying one of his best years at the plate in some time and drew interest from other teams around the trade deadline; however, Philly elected to hold on to him. It appears they will continue to do so for the remainder of this season, perhaps hoping to re-sign the veteran free-agent-to-be next year as a mentor for the team's younger players.
Ron Washington: Washington is back in a baseball dugout after taking over as third-base coach of the Oakland Athletics starting Monday. The 63-year-old baseball lifer was the manager of the Texas Rangers for eight years before resigning last season due to a personal matter. Washington discussed his excitement toward his role with Jim Caple of ESPN.com. "I'm just happy to be back in the dugout," Washington said.
