Somewhere in those dark days of January and February, when it seemed that there might not actually be a baseball season, Buck Shaw There must have been a day when Walter allowed himself to think about what a perfect day at the ballpark would look like for his new club.
Certainly, Jacob deGrom's power is at its peak.
Sure, that includes Pete swinging Alonso's bat.
Surely there will come a moment when the winning culture he hopes to instill and contributions from unexpected sources will become apparent.
Indeed, the Mets manager may have believed that Edwin would hand the ball to Diaz and believe he would take a cinch in his ninth inning.
There was a lot that felt perfect at Citi Field Sunday afternoon after one of the Mets' most perfect weekends in years. DeGrom was great. Alonso drove the Mets' first run in three straight games.
For the second time in the past two months I have seen the Met slip in front of an infielder, confusing him into tagging the Met without the ball (this time it doesn't work). Raise your hand if you've ever raised your hand) I saw this once in my life as a baseball fan, and I've seen it twice now). Joely Rodriguez standing up from the trash can.
And Diaz was silly as usual.
Mets beat Braves 5-2, Peach It gets 4 out of 5 for the majesty you hear all around Tree Street and the joie de vivre that makes Citi Field feel like the happiest ballpark in the country. It was about 15 minutes ago when the Braves sneaked into the Mets half his game.
They staggered to Boston 6½ games ahead of him.
"That," Showalter said, "was fun." With miles of lasers, the park was exciting. deGrom robbed him of twelve. Twenty times he threw a slider provided by the Braves.
The applause deGrom received as he walked off the field reflected what happened throughout the weekend at City: a team of great promise and great hopes turned into a squad that was just getting started. Changed. To feel the team might have something special.
"He was at his best," Showalter said of deGrom. "I wish I was ready to say what his outing deserved. It was remarkable."
The Mets have been doing well all year, but every time deGrom returned, there was a looming specter of what could be done. It could have been fool's gold. There was no way to know for sure if he was who he was last year. And the few Mets fans who came to pay tribute to deGrom almost saw him feel better when he took his first top-of-the-line mound. I was pretty emotional," deGrom said. "I needed to take a minute to calm myself down."
deGrom was the keystone, but Sunday afternoon had a lot to look forward to. The Mets' relentless starter crushing continued, chasing Spencer Strider before the end of the third inning. Alonso's two-run double made him more aggressive. Rodriguez had his best time in the Met, scoring seven big outs. And Diaz was Diaz.
Straight from the blueprint.
``We all have goals here. are heading in the same direction," deGrom said. "This is really great stuff we're going forward and the goal is to keep it going." After Swanson hit a two-run homer, deGrom scored two outs in his sixth. 37,717 people in the house stood up and yelled when they left the field at .
"That was good," deGrom said with a smirk.
If so, it was him one of the few moments of the day for those interested in the Mets. The Mets have failed to conquer the NL East in his last four days. But they showed the familiar tough calling his card. The Braves spent most of his June winning every day, biting the Mets' lead and eating up nearly all of the 10½ game difference. The Mets have taken the Braves best shot and this weekend they delivered some of their own old-fashioned haymakers.
A day in the office isn't bad. A perfect day at the ballpark. Not bad for a weekend. Not at all.
