The Mets won on Thursday thanks in part to a quality start from Tylor Megill and Pete Alonso's MLB-best 16th home run. They took down the Rays, 3-2, meaning the Mets won two of three in the series.
Heading into the season, the Mets taking two of three from the Rays at home in the middle of May wouldn't have been all-too-shocking an occurrence. In fact, it would've been predictable. Given what has transpired since the start of the season, but also more specifically to the Mets in the month, though, this was a true "can't predict baseball" series.
As we know by now, the Rays started the season 13-0, tying the modern-day MLB record. They entered this series 31-11, easily the best record, and they were one of the fastest teams in the integration era to reach 30 wins. When the Rays won on Tuesday, in a game that 2022 Cy Young winner Justin Verlander started for the Mets, it looked like another series win for the hottest team in baseball.
Instead, the Mets stormed back to win Wednesday in extra innings thanks to three clutch homers, including a three-run walk-off shot from Alonso.
Then came Thursday's victory.
The Mets have now won back-to-back games for the first time since April 20-21. We'd have to go further back to find their last series win and that was getting two of three over the Dodgers -- who now have the best record in the NL, by the way (and we'll get to that) -- in L.A. April 17-19. After they won their first two the next series in San Francisco, it set off an awful stretch of baseball from the Mets.
That stretch was against mostly-weak competition, too. The Mets lost two against the Giants, two of three to the Nats, two of three to the Braves (one of the few good teams), were swept by the Tigers, lost two of three to the Rockies (at Citi Field, and the Rockies are usually bad away from Coors Field), two of three to the Reds and then split with the Nationals before this series.
Meanwhile, the Mets' last two series wins have now come against the Rays, who have the best record in baseball, and the Dodgers, who have the best record in the NL.
In all, the Mets had a stretch of baseball where they played six series against teams currently under .500 and one above. They were 0-5-2 in those series. Hilariously, that stretch was bookended by winning series against the teams with the best respective records in each league.
Never change, baseball.
