Hours before this season’s second act began, Mets general manager Brodie Van Wagenen sat in the visitors’ dugout at Marlins Park and dissected all the things that had gone wrong to date. He spoke about slumping Robinson Canó, one of his primary offseason acquisitions. He indicated that the Mets would have little choice but to trade Zack Wheeler, an impending free agent. He acknowledged his preseason dare for the rest of the National League East to “come get us.”
“They came and got us,” Van Wagenen said that day in Miami.
Or did they? Since losing that night, the Mets have won 13 of 17 to bull their way back into fringe contention in the NL Wild Card race. In leaning on Wheeler, Luis Avilán and Jeurys Familia to combine on a four-hit, 4-0 shutout of the White Sox on Thursday at Guaranteed Rate Field, the Mets completed a series sweep and extended their winning streak to seven.
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