WASHINGTON — With Max Scherzer and Justin Verlander back at the top of the rotation, there are fewer concerns about the Mets’ aces.
And with Starling Marte and Mark Canha showing signs of life, there are fewer concerns about the Mets running into cornerbacks.
The Mets’ sophomore and multi-year big leaguers, who started slow, combined to go 6-for-12 with four RBIs this weekend, starting with a 3-2 loss and ending with an 8-2 win at Nationals Park on Sunday.
The duo signed with the Mets around the same time, and they thrived in their first seasons at Queens and dropped off in April and early May of this year.
When the two veterans—both 34—start to slip, there is a question of whether they will continue to fall.
They entered the play scoring a combined 222 with only four runs between them and struggles that seemed to permeate the entire lineup.
Those numbers would only improve after Sunday, when they helped lead the biggest run of the Mets season.
“It felt good [at-bats] Kanha said, speaking of the entire crime. “It was only a matter of time before that happened.”
Marte and Canha each hit a pair of batters in the fifth of the eight innings of the second inning.
Marte drove out of the frame with a single and scored when Canha lined a double into left field, resulting in the Mets’ first run of the game and opening the gates to what became a rout.
The rest of the Mets lineup continued to hit, enabling the two to get another at-bat in the inning.
Marte knocked down a bloop, an RBI single into center field, stole second and advanced to third when the ball sloshed into center field.
Kanha followed it up with an RBI single in the center of the Mets’ eighth and final run of the inning and the game.
Canha was only 4-for-23 in his past six matches and came into play and was constantly part of early batting practice hours before game time.
“A little tweak here and there, and finally something felt right,” Canha said after raising his average from . 218 to . 236 with a three-hit game. “So the key is to stick with the work I’m doing and keep up with it.”
213 as recently as May 6 and has fallen to sixth in the standings, Marty said Friday that he tends to get better as the weather warms.
Historically, April has been its worst month.
Buck Showalter has seen his $78 million right fielder expand his strike zone – and he’s now starting to see that strike zone shrink.
“He seemed to be cheating so much at fastball that the recognition of the pitch disappeared,” the coach said. “He only had one real chase today in the two games. It was good to see that.”
With one big run, the Mets are hopeful that two major shareholders have taken steps toward getting out.
