MILWAUKEE — Lucas Duda doesn’t want to hear about the possibility he has arrived as a player.
“I wouldn’t read too much into it,” the slugging first baseman said after the Mets beat the Brewers 2-0 on Sunday. “I’m just happy to contribute. I’m happy that we won.”
Duda accounted for the only runs with a two-run homer in the sixth against Jimmy Nelson. The blast was Duda’s fourth in his last six games and extended his team lead to 18 for the season.
Overall, Duda batted .286 with four homers and seven RBIs on the 10-game trip. His two-run blast in the ninth inning against Francisco Rodriguez on Friday rescued the Mets in their 3-2 victory.
“He had a tremendous road trip,” manager Terry Collins said. “You certainly can’t say enough the way he’s hit the ball. Let’s just hope he remains hot, because he’s going to put up some big numbers in the next couple of months, because we get guys on base ahead of him and if he continues to swing the bat the way he is, he’s going to produce some runs.”
Daniel Murphy doubled leading off the sixth, before Duda golfed an 0-2 slider over the right-field fence.
“He’s hitting in the four-hole for a reason and it’s to drive in runs, because he’s got some of the most power of anybody in the game,” David Wright said. “It’s finally starting to come together where he’s having good at-bats, he’s understanding the league and what pitchers are trying to do to him.”
“It just seems that the confidence level — the swings that he’s having and the at-bats that he’s taking — he’s more confident in what he’s doing.”
Eric Campbell has been starting at first base against lefty pitching, but Duda’s recent surge might force Collins to reconsider.
“You ask Lucas and he will tell you he can hit lefties,” Collins said. “He has and he’s just got to have a little different approach. He’s got to go back to the old approach a little more and not worry about driving so many balls [against lefties]. Same thing we’ve talked about in the past, just seeing the ball a little more and getting something good to hit.”