3 encouraging signs for future in Mets' 3-game sweep over Nationals

NEW YORK — Christian Scott might have put the Mets' position for the remainder of the season best: "When you're able to come out here and win some games, you're gonna have more fun than when you're not."

The Mets, once mired in a losing pattern for four months of the 2026 season, have turned a new leaf in the month of August.

The pressure has been alleviated after the team was remodeled after the trade deadline. The wins have snowballed into more wins.

On Sunday afternoon, the Mets secured a three-game sweep of the Nationals as they held on for a 4-3 victory in front of 28,624 fans at Citi Field. It was the Mets' ninth win in 12 games since the deadline as they moved to 56-69 - 13 games under .500 for the first time since June 27, one day after Carlos Mendoza was fired.

"It's guys playing good baseball. I've mentioned resiliency. Almost all of these games, we find ourselves down at some point in time," Mets interim manager Andy Green said. "I think the mentality has flipped from 'Here we go again,' to 'Here we go again, this is what we do.' I think there's a big distinction between those two things and your expectations. I think your play follows that. I don't feel anybody deflated after we find ourselves trailing in a baseball game."

While the Mets might be on their best 12-game stretch since 2025, there is not much hope remaining for this season. But there are trends and performances that can provide some hope heading into 2027. Here are three encouraging signs from the Mets' series finale and three-game sweep over the Nationals:

The Mets locked up Luis Torrens for two more years on an $11.5 million extension in May. It was big money for a backup catcher, but Torrens is proving why he's one of the best in that role in the game.

Torrens supplied a go-ahead two-run home run off Jake Irvin in the fourth inning that gave the Mets a 3-2 lead that they were able to protect. The Mets catcher has now poked four home runs in his last six games and is batting .321 with 11 RBI over the last six series.

"Honestly, all the work that I've been doing with the coaches and anybody else that I've been having conversations with about hitting, I think it's helped me out tremendously. Thank god, right now the results are there to kind of validate all that work."

Torrens' current .689 OPS represents his best mark since 2021 when he was with the Mariners. He now has six home runs, 30 RBI and 29 runs on the season in 74 games in a proven complement to Francisco Alvarez behind and at the plate.

Torrens' +9 fielding run value was the third-best in MLB behind the Blue Jays' Brandon Valenzuela and Tigers' Dillon Dingler entering Sunday.

It took 15 starts before Christian Scott completed six innings this season. Three starts later, Scott, who is in his first season back from Tommy John surgery, recording his first out in the seventh inning.

Scott picked up his fourth win of the season, holding the Nationals to three runs on five hits and two walks while striking out seven in 6⅓ innings.

"It felt good. I felt like I was able to lower my pitch count for the most part, get some early contact when I needed to," Scott said. "Was able to kind of cruise in the third, fourth and fifth there, just being able to get deeper in the game, get the second time through the lineup, I feel like I did a good job with that."

Two leadoff walks came back to bite Scott as they both scored in the second and sixth innings on RBI singles by Keibert Ruiz, but he minimized the damage other than a Abimelec Ortiz solo home run.

Scott's victory came after a pair of turbulent outings on the road against the Guardians and Braves when he gave up seven earned runs in nine innings, allowing 13 hits and three walks. Scott was able to establish his fastball early and work in his sweeper off that.

"After the first two innings, I feel like I threw my sweeper in the zone a little bit more. I was able to get hitters off balance that way," Scott said. "Being able to really establish the cutter in the strike zone and be able to get soft contact with that pitch."

The Mets' bullpen might be entirely different form the unit that was introduced on Opening Day, but Green has found a high-leverage mix that has worked during their recent run.

Nate Lavender, who debuted on Aug. 4 in Cleveland, has worked three of his five outings with inherited runners and not given up any runs. On Sunday, he came on for Scott with two runners on and popped up CJ Abrams and froze Ortiz on a fastball on the corner for the final out of the seventh inning.

"He's got elite confidence, conviction in his pitches, doesn't care what the velo says on the scoreboard," Green said. "He expects to be beat the hitter and that belief carries him through his performance. It's good stuff. It's really good extension. It's a different look."

Daniel Duarte tossed a perfect eighth inning with a strikeout, running his scoreless outing streak to six games. Green said his "unpredictable" five-pitch mix and good velo has served him well in the high-leverage role.

And Kodai Senga continued to excel in the ninth inning, converting his third save in as many opportunities, with strikeouts of Jose Tena and Harry Ford. It was a big step forward for Senga, who was pitching for the second time in three days and also warmed up during Saturday's win.

"I'm really glad that he felt confident, comfortable voicing what was important to him, what he wants to do," Green said. "I want players to do that. Also, a ton of respect for saying, 'But whatever the team asks me to do, I'm gonna do with everything I've got and do it the best possibly can,' and he's done that."

This article originally appeared on NorthJersey.com: 3 encouraging signs for future in Mets' 3-game sweep over Nationals