Mets crush Phillies behind stellar performance from Syndergaard

What’s the best medicine for a slumping offense and a struggling pitching staff? The Philadelphia Phillies, of course!

After getting swept by the Pirates over the weekend, the Mets (27-21) returned the favor by sweeping the Phillies (19-30) in a three-game series at Citi Field.

Game Recap:

Coming into today’s game, Noah Syndergaard has had a 1-2-3 inning in each of those start. Today was no different. Syndergaard continued his perfect-first inning streak for the fourth straight game.

In the bottom of the first, Phillies starter, Sean O’Sullivan got both Curtis Granderson and Juan Lagares to fly out, before was rudely interrupted by a Lucas Duda home run over the right field fence to give the Mets a quick 1-0 lead.

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After an uneventful second inning for both teams, the Mets scored three runs in the third, thanks to a Daniel Murphy RBI single and a two-run home run off the bat of Michael Cuddyer to increase the Mets’ lead to 4-0.

Subsequently, in the fourth inning, Noah Syndergaard came up to the plate and launched a solo home run over the left-centerfield wall to give the Mets a 5-0 lead, the first for a Mets pitcher since Jeremy Hefner did so in 2012.

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Lucas Duda came up to bat in the bottom of the fifth and decided to steal the show from Syndergaard with a towering home run over the right field wall, extending the lead to 6-0.

With the bases loaded in the bottom of the sixth, the Mets added another run from a sacrifice fly off Curtis Granderson’s bat, scoring Danny Muno.

The Mets enjoyed a comfortable 7-0 lead into the top of the seventh, when Syndergaard encountered his first dilemma when two Phillies singled to lead off the inning. Fortunately for him, he induced a double play grounder from Odubel Herrera and struck out Cameron Rupp to complete the frame.

Terry Collins kept Syndergaard to face one batter, which he retired. He was taken out of the game and was met with a standing ovation at Citi Field. Sean Gilmartin relieved Syndergaard and escaped the inning without any damage.

In the ninth, the Phillies went out lightly, as the Mets secured the 7-0 victory and the three-game sweep.

Highlights:

• Lucas Duda hit his eighth home run of the season, overtaking Wilmer Flores for the team lead. Duda has hit five home runs in the last seven games. Today, he went 3-for-4 with two home runs, one double, and three runs scored.

• Kevin Plawecki looks refreshed after sitting out the last game of the Pirates series and the first game against the Phillies. He went 2-for-4 last night and went

• Hello, Mr. Cuddyer! The 15-year veteran hit another second-deck home run this home stand, his fifth for the season.

• Noah Syndergaard with a spectacular day, going 7 1/3 innings, allowing six singles while striking out six Phillies. He didn’t walk any batters and seemed to overpower the opposition with his pitches.

• Daniel Murphy went 3-for-4 and has hit safely in seven straight games. His average has slowly increased to a respectable .279 after struggling through much of April.

Thoughts:

How can you not love Noah Syndergaard? After a silly, lunch-eating controversy in spring training and a random Twitter quarrel early in the regular season, Syndergaard has responded to the critics by providing the Mets with pitching consistently and hitting aggressively.

He’s the real deal, folks. Get used to him pitching in Queens for years to come (assuming the Mets don’t break our hearts and trade him later this year.)

Speaking of which, how about this tidbit?

Oh, he also went 3-for-3 at the plate with two singles, a solo home run, one run scored and one run driven in.

Most of the remaining Mets bats were also alive today, which is great. And as many on Twitter have been discussing, if Duda can continue his hot streak and if Cuddyer can catch fire soon, the Mets won’t miss David Wright‘s absence as much. Add to that the return of Travis d’Arnaud, most likely next weekend, and the Mets may be competing for top dog in the NL East all summer long.

Perhaps this series will kick the Mets into gear, as they embark on their first west coast trip of the year. With the Mets currently a game behind the Nationals for first place in the NL East, they’ll need to consistently win series from here on out in order to make the rest of the season intriguing to follow.

Or maybe they can call the MLB offices and see if they can make a schedule change that allows them to face the Phillies for the rest of the season.

Next Up:

The Mets will welcome the Miami Marlins into town on Friday. Matt Harvey will be opposed by Dan Haren, with the first pitch scheduled for 7:10 p.m.