Jay Bruce goes off in Philly as Mets win first game on the road

The Mets defeated the Philadelphia Phillies, 4-3 on Monday, and the story of the game was Jay Bruce and his continued hot start to the season.

Most Mets fans wanted Jay Bruce gone this offseason. Even the front office tried really, really hard to move him, but he’s here, and so far in 2017, he’s delivered big time.

Coming into Monday night’s game against the Phillies, Bruce had already hit two home runs over the first six games which is pretty good. He doubled his total in one night, however, and drove in three out of the four runs the Mets would need to take this win.

The first shot came in the fourth inning as the Mets were down 2-0. The solo blast cut the lead, and felt like a nice boost to an offense that has struggled to get runs on the board early on this season.

A Neil Walker sac-fly in the seventh would tie up the game before things got really interesting in the eighth inning.

With one out in the top of the frame, Asdrubal Cabrera stepped up to the plate against Edubray Ramos. In case you aren’t familiar with Ramos, he’s the pitcher off whom Cabrera hit that walk-off three-run jack in late September. You know which one I’m talking about.

Well, apparently Ramos was still upset about that epic bat flip, and decided to throw a pitch over and behind Cabrera’s head to start the at bat. Cabrera almost charged the mound, but was held back by Phillies catcher Cameron Rupp.

Cabrera would eventually walk, and after a Cespedes strike out, Jay Bruce stepped up to plate ready to break the tie.

To say Bruce has been a pleasant surprise so far would be a grave understatement. Here’s a guy that struggled early on after being traded to the Mets, and although he picked it up the last couple of weeks of the regular season, most of us (myself included) really wanted him gone.

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He’s been an absolute professional, and has come to play and not complain. This has been a fantastic story so far, and we’re hoping it stays like this for the rest of the season.

On the other side of the ball, Jacob deGrom demonstrated once again why he is one of my favorite Mets pitchers of all-time.

DeGrom didn’t have it to start the game. He was wild in the first and gave up cheap hits and a couple of walks (one with the bases loaded) that resulted in a couple of runs for Philly. The key was how he reacted after that first inning.

Over the next five innings, deGrom would only allow just three hits and keep the Phillies off the board. He kept the Mets in the game, and gave the offense enough time to get rolling.

Next: Mets captain David Wright resumes throwing program, return still unknown

Great win overall for the Amazin’s on Monday night. Game 2 of the series will bring back Matt Harvey for his second start of the season against the Phillies right-hander Clay Buchholz.