NEW YORK — Luis Severino has begun to exceed his own lofty expectations for what he could achieve in his first season with the Mets.
If anyone had asked the veteran right-hander if he expected to throw more than 150 innings before the first week of September, the 30-year-old, who had undergone five straight injury-riddled seasons, might not have believed you.
But in a big spot on Monday night against the Red Sox, Severino continued to prove his growth and capability to rise up as the pressure mounts. The Mets starter kept things comfortable with one earned run allowed across seven innings in the Mets' 4-1 victory in front of 35,064 fans at Citi Field.
"I’ve always been in New York. I don’t know any other way," Severino said. "I think every time Boston comes to New York, it’s a big game for us. Now, we have to win every game. We are really close to being in that playoff spot, so from now on, every time they give me the ball, this is a chance for me to get my team closer to the playoffs."
As Severino improved to 10-6 on the season, the Mets grabbed their fifth straight win, a streak that began during their critical 10-game road trip last week. After being 11 games under .500 on June 2, the Mets have rocketed all the way to 74-64 after Monday's victory. They are a half-game back of the Braves for the final wild card spot.
"Here we are playing meaningful games in September, but we haven’t done anything," Carlos Mendoza said. "We know where we’re at and the mindset continues to be one game at a time, one series at a time and let the team play (it) out. I think it’s just preparation. It’s holding each other accountable but keeping it fun. Today was a fun night being back here in our house in front of a really good crowd."
Luis Severino bounces back
There were some reasonable questions surrounding Luis Severino following his last start against the Diamondbacks back on Aug. 28.
Severino was limping in the clubhouse after taking a Corbin Carroll line drive off the top of his foot in the fourth inning. The veteran remained in the game but was aware of the pain when he was pushing off the rubber, as he allowed four earned runs on eight hits and two walks in a loss.
Three days later as the pain subsided, Severino looked no worse for the wear. He finished with five strikeouts while scattering six hits and two walks.
"I think by the third day, I was feeling I could step on it and run a little bit," Severino said. "I knew it was not going to be a problem."
The lone Red Sox run came in the top of the third after Ceddanne Rafaela knocked a line drive to center field that reached the wall after skipping past a diving Brandon Nimmo. Jarren Duran knocked an RBI single in the next at-bat but was thrown out by Starling Marte trying to stretch the hit for extra bases.
Severino received some quality defense, with a pair of double plays and Brandon Nimmo making another diving catch for the final out of the sixth inning with two runners on.
"I think the way he mixed his pitches today," Mendoza said. "He didn’t fall into patterns, just one pitch. I thought him and Luis (Torrens) got on the same page and it was a good game tonight there."
Monitoring Luis Severino's workload
Before the seventh inning, Mendoza had a conversation with Severino about how he was feeling at 83 pitches. The Mets manager told his starter pick up two outs. The Mets starter asked why not one more?
After walking the leadoff batter, Severino managed to pick up three fly balls from the bottom of the Red Sox lineup.
With 158⅓ innings so far, Severino is now 70 innings beyond what he threw in the 2023 campaign with the Yankees when he was sidelined early with a lat strain and late with an oblique strain. So those discussions about workload will be critical over the final month.
"Moving forward, there’s going to be times where I’m going to have to pull the plug and just rely on the bullpen," Mendoz said.
Severino credited better sleep, eating habits and the work with the team's training and athletic staff for keeping him pitching at a high level across the most innings he's thrown since 2018. And the Mets will need Severino at his best if they hope to clinch a spot in the playoffs.
"Understanding that I’m not 21, 22 (years old) anymore, so I think just having that thought in my mind and just worrying about my health, my body, it’s been really good for me," Severino said.
Francisco Lindor's run continues
The M-V-P chants are amplifying in volume for Francisco Lindor, who has shown no signs of slowing down.
He continued on his torrid run on Monday night by going 2-for-3 with a run and an RBI. In the third inning, he looped a single into right field then came around to score on an RBI double by Brandon Nimmo to move the Mets ahead 2-1. It extended his hitting streak to 13 games. Then, in the fourth, Lindor knocked an RBI single into right field to score Luis Torrens and boost the Mets ahead 4-1.
"I’m not gonna lie, it was pretty cool," Mendoza said of the chants for Lindor. "I felt it too, and it was like, ‘Wow.’ Looking back to April and here we are the first week of September and we have 35, 40,000 people chanting MVP".
After being hit by a pitch in the opening inning, Lindor extended his on-base steak to 31 games. It is the longest active streak in MLB and longest by a Mets player since Brandon Nimmo between Sept. 15, 2019-Aug. 15, 2020.
Torrens was one of the unsung heroes of the win for the Mets, with a pair of doubles in three at-bats. On his first double, DJ Stewart scored from first after a bobble by Tyler O'Neill in left field.
