With the Mets square in the mix of the National League Wild Card race, Mark Vientos knows just how important every game is from here on out.
So after the scorching hot Francisco Lindor led off Thursday’s series opener against the Padres with a double, the youngster stepped up to the plate and he knew exactly what he needed to do.
Vientos jumped on a first pitch slider from right-hander Dylan Cease and he smacked it down the left field line for a double of his own, plating Lindor to give the Mets an early lead, which they never looked back from.
“It felt good there,” Vientos said. “I saw Frankie hit a double so I was like let me see if I can go back-to-back with him. He threw me a hanging slider and I was able to put a good swing on it and I got the job done.”
The youngster was fooled badly in each of his next two at-bats, as he struck out on breaking balls out of the zone, but he came up in a big spot in the top of the ninth and was able to tack on some much-needed insurance.
With the bases loaded and nobody out, Vientos dug in and bounced a single up the middle through the drawn-in infield to bring home two more runs, giving him a pair of hits and three RBI on the night.
“All I was trying to do was put the ball through the infield or get a sacrifice fly,” he said. “I just wasn’t trying to do too much there to keep the game far away, so I was just keeping it simple and got the job done.”
That’s the exact type of approach that has led to so much success for the 24-year-old slugger as he’s taken full advantage of his first opportunity for consistent playing time at the big league level.
Vientos is now up to an impressive 20 doubles, 20 homers, 54 RBI, a .339 on-base percentage, a .557 slugging percentage, and an .895 OPS through just 80 games this season.
He’s been particularly hot since Carlos Mendoza decided to bump him up to the second spot in the order, producing four doubles, three homers, and a whopping 1.124 OPS during his current 10-game hitting streak.
It’s a move that has paid tremendous dividends for Mendoza and the Mets, as this lineup has a much deeper feel to it with Lindor and Vientos doing their thing at the top, as we saw on Thursday night.
“Coming up from high school to little league and pro ball, I’ve always been towards the top of the order,” Vientos told SNY’s Steve Gelbs. “I’m just trying to start the game off hot by getting on base, putting together good at-bats, and making the pitcher work — especially in my first at-bat. That’s my mentality and I feel comfortable in the two-hole.”
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