Bo Bichette may have called it while talking to The Post before Friday’s game.
“I think I am good enough that my season could look how I want it to look in a week,” Bichette said. “But I also think that I am good enough to where we look up in a couple of months and I am like, ‘Oh, dang, he made it to where he wants to be.’ ”
He’s off to a good start.
Buoyed by Bichette’s two home runs, which included a grand slam, the Mets beat the Braves 7-5 at Citi Field for their second straight victory.
The barrage gave Bichette, who began the night with an anemic .607 OPS, three homers over his last two games. His six RBIs matched a career high. It’s the kind of night the Mets had in mind when they signed Bichette last winter to a three-year contract (that contains opt outs) worth $126 million.
Bichette’s outburst boosted the Mets on a night Nolan McLean scuffled and lasted only four innings because of an elevated pitch count. The right-hander allowed two earned runs on three hits and four walks with six strikeouts. He was removed after 93 pitches.
Juan Soto, whose go-ahead homer Wednesday propelled a victory over the Cardinals, went deep on this night to augment Bichette’s offensive heroics.
“I keep waiting, we all keep waiting,” manager Carlos Mendoza said before the game, referring to Bichette. “There are definitely better signs using the whole field. [Thursday], that homer to the pull side and he has the ability to go the other way. But he continues to hit the ball hard. This is a really good hitter and he’s about to take off here.”
Bichette and Soto got the night started with consecutive homers in the first inning that gave the Mets a 2-0 lead. Soto, who received his silver bat award from last season before the game, cleared the right field fence for his team-leading 15th homer after Bichette had homered to left.
But McLean needed 42 pitches to get through the second, an inning in which the Braves sent eight batters to the plate and scored twice, with help from three walks.
Dominic Smith’s RBI single pulled the Braves within 2-1 after Ozzie Albies walked leading off and reached second when Jared Young mishandled McLean’s pickoff throw for an error. Austin Riley walked before Mike Yastrezemski’s RBI single tied it 2-2. McLean then walked Ha-Seong Kim to load the bases before getting three straight outs without a run scoring.
Bichette’s grand slam in the bottom of the inning gave the Mets a 6-2 lead. MJ Melendez doubled against Spencer Strider with two outs to begin the rally before Luis Torrens singled and Carson Benge got drilled to load the bases. Bichette hit a fly to right that just nestled into the first row.
Bichette’s sacrifice fly in the fourth extended the Mets’ lead to 7-2. Melendez walked in the inning and Luis Torrens singled.
McLean’s performance was a step backward after two straight solid starts from the right-hander following consecutive clunkers. In his previous outing, last Saturday against the Padres, he threw a season-high 101 pitches and allowed one earned run over six innings.
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Matt Olson’s homer in the fifth against Cionel Perez gave the Braves their third run.
Brooks Raley surrendered two runs in the eighth to slice the Mets’ lead to 7-5 before Devin Williams retired Rowdy Tellez with the tying runs on base for the final out.
Williams worked a scoreless ninth for his second save in as many days.
[Notigroup Newsroom in collaboration with other media outlets, with information from the following sources]
