The Mets are headed back to Queens only because they have no other choice.
If they had it their way, this entire four-game series would remain in The Bronx.
After all, Curtis Granderson, Daniel Murphy and Co. looked perfectly at home in taking the first two games of the series as the Mets moved halfway to their second straight season sweep of the Yankees after Tuesday’s 12-7 rout, their third straight win overall.
The anemic offense became potent at Yankee Stadium, bashing six home runs over two delightful nights, scoring 20 runs — usually a week’s worth for this hitting-challenged group — and grouping together 13 extra-base hits.
“It’s always nice to get rewarded for a good swing,” Murphy said. “It’s nice to come here. I think we took advantage of some of the elements here.”
In The Bronx’s stadium’s hitter-friendly dimensions, the Mets looked like a group of feared sluggers, notably Granderson and Murphy. Each hit three-run homers Tuesday night and went a combined 7-for-15 in the two games.
The former Yankee Granderson staked the Mets to a 4-0 lead in the first, turning on a Vidal Nuno hanging slider and deposited it into the short porch in right field, his second homer in as many days. Murphy did the honors in the fifth, absolutely crushing the first pitch from Yankees reliever Alfredo Aceves deep into The Bronx night off the foul pole, blowing what had been a back-and-forth affair wide open.
In this mini three-game winning streak, Murphy has caught fire, notching two home runs, six RBIs and six hits in 12 at-bats. Murphy’s strength always has been hitting the ball where it is pitched, using all fields while displaying patience. He has begun pulling the ball more of late, and doing so for power. He credited David Wright for all the fat pitches he is seeing of late.
Wright, in turn, praised Granderson and Chris Young.
“Having a good, long lineup is important,” Wright said. “You get your leadoff man on, you get better pitches for your two-hole hitter, which gets better pitches for your three-hole hitter. It’s kind of a domino effect.”
“But [Murphy’s] swinging the bat as well as I’ve ever seen him swing the bat. … If he continues to hit homers now and then, that’s a dangerous weapon to have in our lineup.”
The question, of course, remains: Will the Mets revert back to failing to score runs on Wednesday when the two teams resume the series at Citi Field? Wright hopes not.
“I don’t think by any means all of the home runs we’re hitting [here] translates into hitting home runs at Citi [Field]. Murph’s probably would’ve,” Wright said. “But I think that it gives you confidence.
“You want to see results for having good at-bats. A big part of hitting is feeling good and feeling confident about yourself.”