Comeback Against Phillies Turning Point?

It is easy to label certain games throughout the season as “turning points.” In hindsight most of those turning points turn out to be nothing. But if the Mets win this season, they might want to look at Tuesday’s comeback against the Phillies as the turning point of the season.

The Mets came into the game down on their luck; losers of five of their previous seven games, the sweep by the Pirates, in which the Mets could barely muscle the ball out of the infield, fresh in their minds.

So the Mets must have felt pretty good Tuesday. They scored three early runs and one of their young guns, Jacob deGrom, was cruising. And then in the blink of an eye, the Mets were down 4-3 late in the game. It looked like another humiliating loss was at hand, certain to lead to many more similar defeats.

But the Mets were able to come back to win in extra innings, with embattled shortstop Wilmer Flores getting the tying and winning RBIs to boot. Instead of heading into the clubhouse with their heads hanging low and their spirits even lower, the Mets were celebrating on the field.

The sudden good feelings carried over into Wednesday’s matinée. Noah Syndergaard dominated the Phillies on both sides of the plate, throwing 7.1 shutout innings and hitting his first big league home run. Lucas Duda smashed two more homers. Michael Cuddyer also hit one; all of the home runs were of the tape-measure variety. When it was all over the Mets were 7-0 winners and the sweep of the Phillies was complete.

It is impossible to say Tuesday’s win was responsible for Wednesday’s performance. All we know for sure is that the Mets are now winners of three in a row and play their next 10 games against the Marlins, Padres and Diamondbacks. No one will mistake those teams for the ’27 Yankees.

The Mets have a chance to take a huge step forward over the next week and a half. If they do, you can look back at Tuesday night as the game that changed their fortunes.