FLUSHING - I felt last year was a pretty decent indication of the power Mets' fans can expect from Amed Rosario.
Just talking with some friends, we'd agreed that around 15 homers would be a fair number to count on from the shortstop. Based off his showing on Thursday, perhaps we need to revisit those expectations to meet what he has established for himself.
Rosario clubbed two bombs - a two-run shot in the second and a grand-slam slam during a five-run sixth - to power the Mets past Arizona, 8-3, to take the rubber match of the three-game series. With his two clouts, Rosario, who boasts 34 RBI, has now launched nine on the season and is well on pace to surpass the standard he established a year ago.
His bat was complemented by the inspiring work of Michael Wacha (1-1). Just to refresh your memory, Wacha was initially on the roster as a vital arm out of the pen in long relieft, but was inexplicably vanquished to Syracuse by the brass to make a roster spot available. I nixed that decision because Wacha is so invaluable...a point that was unfortunately substantiated when Jacon deGrom suffered an injury that opened a slot in the rotation.
Wacha stepped in and - no one is going to compare him to Jake - has filled the void exceptionally well. He scattered four hits, yielded two runs in his final inning of work and fanned seven over seven innings, giving the Mets everything we could ask for.
Perhaphs his work inspired the offense, which pounded out 15 hits. Wilson Ramos belted his seventh homer of the year, a solo shot in the fourth that increased the advantage to 3-0, and Jake Marisnick went back-to-back with Rosario in the sixth by belting his fourth.
A big weekend series awaits as the second-place Braves, 4 1/2 games back of the Mets, head into Citi Field for three games.
