New York Mets Tickets served daily from early morning til late-night.
New York Mets
We stock Utah Jazz Tickets and packages. See our complete listings of Utah Jazz Tickets. Utah Jazz event maps and prices.
Rush Order New York Mets.PHOENIX -- Before their series against the Diamondbacks began Monday, teammates stopped at the locker of Mike Piazza to express concern about the broken bone in his right hand and inquire about his prognosis. In a way, the questions were as much about the condition and prognosis of the Mets' offense as they were about Piazza's pain.
Three games, three victories and 36 runs later, the inquiries have slowed. Comments to Piazza now are touched with the kind of sarcasm peculiar to at-ease big-league clubhouses. "Now, it's 'Take your time, Mike. No need to rush back,' " Piazza said, smiling, late Wednesday night as the Mets reveled in their latest success, an 18-4 thrashing of the Diamondbacks, and an extraordinary performance by Mike Jacobs, the rookie of their week.
Piazza enjoyed the wit of his colleagues as much as he had enjoyed watching the lopsided victory that had unleashed it and Jacobs' four-hit, five-run, four-RBI, two-homer evening.
"I think they want to move me to the 60-day disabled list now," Piazza said. "[Tom] Glavine said they're probably gonna send me down."
No need for Piazza's reborn offense has existed for two nights in the desert. Mets 18, D-Backs 4 was preceded Tuesday by Mets 14, D-Backs 1. "No need for the old dying mule, anymore now," the disabled catcher said.
As the Mets stand on the verge of a four-game road sweep and closer to the lead in the National League Wild Card race than they have been all season, they could make light of almost anything that involved baseball. They chose to laugh at and with Piazza.
On this night, they had amassed a season-high 20 hits and established club records for extra base hits (13) and total bases (44). And they were delighted as a result. "Look at their faces," Piazza said.
Jacobs, a belated Mets response to Kevin Maas, continued his improbable surge, and David Wright and Jose Reyes had rewarding games as well. Wright had four hits, including his 19th and 20th home runs, four runs and two RBIs. Reyes hit his third home run in a week and his NL-leading 13th triple of the season and drove in four runs.
And Jae Seo (6-1) continued his remarkable emergence with another victory, his fifth straight. He put his ERA at 1.30 Wednesday -- it increased -- by allowing two runs in seven innings. He had allowed one in his previous 30 1/3.
More important than any of that, though, is what the second straight onslaught had accomplished. After winning for the eighth time in 11 games, the Mets are in a three-way tie with the Nationals and Marlins for third place in the Wild Card race. They are two games behind the leading Phillies and half a game behind the runner-up Astros.
The Mets have put their record six victories over .500 for the first time since May 4, 2002, and they find themselves in position to execute their first sweep of a four-game road series since September 2002, when they overwhelmed the Phillies.
And they have put it into their own heads that anything is possible -- at least against the dispirited Diamondbacks.
"Willie [Randolph] said he can't be feeling sorry for them," Wright said. "I don't think we have to worry about that, we smell the blood in the water. I think you could tell tonight."
The 18 runs are the most in one game since they scored 19 in 1990. The 32 runs in two successive games are the most the Mets have scored in two games since June 12 and 13 that year, when they scored 34 in two games at Wrigley Field.
They showed signs of the greed Randolph wants them to have. Wright was unhappy when he flied out in his final at-bat, with the Mets ahead by 14. "I wanted more," Wright said later.
Jacobs seemed a tad satisfied. How could he not be? In four days in the big leagues, he has 13 at-bats, four home runs, nine RBIs, eight runs, seven hits and a level of confidence others admire. He hit home runs in his first and final at-bats Wednesday.
"I thought of Maas tonight," Randolph said, referring to the Yankees home run comet of 1990. "I want ours to last longer."
"To be in a race and be able to contribute ... I don't know that there's a better feeling," Jacobs said. "It's crazy, 32 runs in two days. It's pretty tight, man. ... I know what these guys are thinking -- 'Are you serious? What is this kid doing?' I'm just enjoying myself."
And making the absence of Piazza and Mike Cameron far less conspicuous.
"No one cares that I'm not playing now," Piazza said. "They're doing so much. We're finally getting it done on the road. And it's the young guy pushing it. It's great to see."
For so long this season, the Mets appeared to be on the road to nowhere whenever they were on the road. More often than not, their postseason aspirations didn't fit in their suitcase. The Mets may have traveled first class, but they didn't travel well.
All of which makes where they are now a tad difficult to fathom and what they did Wednesday night seem ordinary in comparison. This is the same team that has a 26-35 road record and has had trouble winning the farther it is from Shea Stadium.
Now they have a chance to sweep a four-game road series -- albeit against a team that has executed dreadfully for three games. And their starting pitcher Thursday night is Pedro Martinez.
"I like where we are," Randolph said. "And I like where I think we're going."