Upon Further Review...A Sweep!

Mets 9 Tigers 4 (Citi Field, Flushing, NY)

Mets record: 18-25

Mets streak: Won 3

WP - Nolan McLean (2-2)

LP - Keider Montero (2-3)

Seat on the Korner: Mark Vientos

We select a Star of the Game and virtually invite him to take his Seat on the Korner — just as Ralph Kiner did on WOR-TV Channel 9 during the early days of the New York Mets.

Continuing the tradition of Rheingold Beer sponsoring Kiner’s Korner, this season every seat is proudly presented by The Main Event Restaurant & Sports Bar.

With locations in Plainview and Farmingdale, The Main Event features 80+ HD TVs, fresh daily seafood, and Black Angus certified steaks—so you never have to choose between great food and the big game.

Lots to talk about with Swaggy V, starting with the two-run homer in the bottom of the fifth that essentially put the game out of reach. But Vientos also made what could be called a key play in the field -- slapping a tag on Jake Rogers to secure a Nolan McLean pickoff. We're also interested in seeing how Vientos views what in the past three days has come off as a passing of the torch from the 2024 Baby Mets (Brett Baty, Vientos) who keyed a breathtaking playoff run to the current electrifying group (Carson Benge, A.J. Ewing, McLean). We're not ready to call Vientos a grizzled veteran, but since taking over first base on a regular basis when Francisco Lindor went down, setting of the musical chairs of Bo Bichette to short and Baty to third, Vientos has been a stabilizing contributor to the lineup and, amazingly to the field. Just what a veteran presence is expected to provide.

Need to Know

• The sweep was the Mets' first of the season and their first since August 25-27 last year against the Phillies.

• The Mets have won three of their last four series and are 8-4 over their last 12 games.

• Mets pitching, led by the bullpen, has been National League best so far in May: a 2.55 ERA, with 26 walks and 108 strikeouts.

• Mets hitting? A different story. A slash line of .219/.294/.332. The .626 OPS ranks 25th (that's five from the bottom) in MLB..

• Gage Workman's three-run first inning homer continued the Tigers' season-long dominance in the opening frame. Entering the game, they were hitting .288, with a .383 on-base percentage, a .447 slugging percentage and an .830 OPS in the the initial stanza, MLB's best first-inning OBP, third best BA and fifth best OPS.

• In a game that featured five Mets home runs, the Mets also pulled off the unusual -- a safety squeeze! Hayden Senger may not get much playing time, and he may not get many hits, but the backup catcher showed that if the situation calls for it, he can lay down a bunt:

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• Up next: the suddenly slumping Yankees, 1-5 in their last six, and perhaps looking to change their fortunes as they come into Citi Field.

Turning Point

Did anybody say run prevention? It took a key defensive play by M.J. Melendez -- helped by a key call from third base umpire Junior Valentine, fresh of his (shall we say) interesting evening behind the plate Wednesday -- to change the game's karma and help propel the Mets to what in the end was a rout.

It all happened in the fourth inning, with the Mets trailing, 3-1. After a Gage Workman double, Zach McKinstry hit a short fly ball that Melendez, playing left field, charged but could not catch. Workman hesitated and then ran toward third. Melendez alertly noticed the hesitation and fired a strike to third, where Bo Bichette slapped down the tag. Valentine called Workman out. After a long delay, the replay center concluded it couldn't find enough evidence to overturn the call. Those of us scoring at home all seemed to conclude Workman was safe. So did Tigers manager A.J. Hinch, who was ejected over his reaction to the failure to overturn the call.

After that, everything seemed to go the Mets' way. Brett Baty's homer in the bottom of the frame tied the game, and it was all Mets after that.

Three Keys

McLean Guts It Out for Seven

From the start, it was clear that Nolan McLean didn't have his best stuff. He walked Colt Keith, Riley Greene singled and, after a popout, Gage Workman homered, so it was 3-0 before the late brunch crowd had settled into their seats. But McLean did what aces do: he settled down, kept his pitch count low, and turned in seven very professional innings, keeping the Tigers off the board so the Mets could chip away at the lead and eventually take control.

For Once, Catching A Break Instead of Suffering One

Juan Soto was in the lineup, only a few hours after leaving Wednesday's game when he fouled a ball off his foot. X-rays proved negative, so Soto was available to DH. His at-bats did not display any discomfort, especially when he singled in the run that gave the Mets the lead and homered his next time up. While the Baby Mets are providing the short-term spark, the Mets need a productive Soto in the lineup to have any realistic hope of turning the season around.

Ewing Strikes More Oil

A.J. Ewing continued his magical Mets debut, crushing his first major league home run to open the scoring for the Mets in the third inning. He followed that up with his first career single later in the game. Fatalistic Mets fans are just waiting for the other shoe to drop, but for now, let's all enjoy the ride.