Snapping a Scoreless Skid

After being swept in Miami by the lowly Marlins, a disastrous weekend capped by back to back shutouts, the Mets needed a boost, a turnaround, a change in the collective mindset. Yet Monday started off on the wrong foot with GM Brodie Van Wagonen announcing that Yoenis Cespedes had broken his ankle in a still mysterious incident at his Florida ranch.
Time to get onto the field -- clear the minds, start fresh, take the first step to salvaging this still-young season. It took two batters to accomplish that. Batting second, Amed Rosario launched a Patrick Corbin pitch past the wall in center field.
One swing snapped a 19-inning scoreless streak. JD Davis offered a hand on Rosario's trot back to the dugout. But the fun wasn't done.
Swept in Miami, and being blanked in 19 straight innings, Pete Alonso was ready to flex more Met Muscle. The second home run of the 1st inning -- an instant 2-0 lead en route to a 5-3 lead over the even more disappointing Nationals.
There's no way to predict whether Monday's events will ignite a Mets turnaround. But it couldn't hurt. While many of the players spoke out in support of embattled skipper Mickey Callaway, the fans seemed skeptical. Not just the ones who called sports talk radio, but more crucially, the ones who stayed away from Citi Field. Monday, night, in perfect early summer weather, the announced crowd was just over 22,000 (tickets sold). My count was a lot closer to 15,000. In an NL East packed with flawed teams, the Mets have 76 games to make up six in the loss column on the far-from-dominant Phillies.

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