Bader's daily clutch double pushes Mets to .500 mark

NEW YORK -- This time, Harrison Bader hit the ball hard enough to leave no doubt.

A night after leading the Mets to victory with a 54 mph RBI infield chopper in the eighth inning of their series finale against the Royals, Bader did it again on Monday against the Pirates -- only this time, much more forcefully. His 106.1 mph double snapped another eighth-inning tie, sending the Mets to a 6-3 win over the Pirates on Jackie Robinson Day at Citi Field.

With the victory, the Mets (8-8) reached .500 for the first time this season. Since beginning the campaign 0-5, they have gone 8-3.

“There’s just no give-up in this team right now,” starting pitcher Adrian Houser said.

For the second consecutive game, the Mets had to wait for their offense, as Martín Pérez matched Houser zero for zero over the first five innings. But after Houser and Drew Smith cracked for three runs in the top of the sixth, the Mets answered with three of their own off Pérez in the bottom of the inning.

Things remained knotted until the eighth, when Jeff McNeil reached base on a wild pitch, DJ Stewart walked, and Bader -- following a successful double steal in front of him -- plated both runners with his double off his former Yankees teammate, Aroldis Chapman. Unlike on Sunday, when Bader had to sprint at top speed down the first-base line, this time he was able to cruise into second base standing up.

“Listen, any way to get it done for your team to push a run across in a situation, they all feel great,” Bader said. “Obviously, a double is awesome.”

Bader has reached base multiple times in five consecutive games, after beginning the season 5-for-26. Up and down this roster, that’s hardly a unique story. Stewart, who opened the year 0-for-12, has since contributed several memorable hits, including a pinch-hit double to tie Monday’s game in the sixth.

Brandon Nimmo, McNeil and Francisco Lindor have all thawed to varying degrees following early-April slumps. Pete Alonso hit .167 over his first 10 games, then followed it up by winning National League Player of the Week.

It’s little surprise, then, that the Mets -- once three outs away from moving to 0-6 -- have recently become one of baseball’s hottest clubs.

“I don’t like using, ‘It’s still early,’” manager Carlos Mendoza said. “I like where we’re at as a team.”

Back when the Mets were still winless, Mendoza never considered calling a team meeting as Ron Washington did with the Angels. Every situation is different, and while Mendoza isn’t opposed to the idea of such an intervention, he prefers one-on-one conversations to deliver his messages.

If Mendoza feels he needs to say something to a larger group, he can do so during one of many smaller, daily pregame meetings that hitters, pitchers and catchers hold.

At 0-5, merely 3% of the way through the season, Mendoza saw no reason to panic. Things, he knew, could turn quickly. So it wasn’t particularly surprising to him or anyone in the clubhouse when that exact scenario occurred.

“It’s part of the journey,” Houser said.

Other strong signs exist for the Mets, including the fact that they’ve managed this success despite one of MLB’s toughest early schedules. All six of their opponents so far sit above .500, but the Mets still feature a Top 10 rotation and bullpen ERA, as well as one of the spunkier offenses in the game. They’ve scored a league-leading 30 runs in the eighth inning or later, including three off Chapman on Monday night.

As Stewart answered questions following his role in the rally, his teammate Tyrone Taylor walked by, poked his head into the media scrum and shouted: “Pinch-hit barrels! Can’t teach it, baby.”

Do good vibes follow victories, or do victories result from good vibes? Either way, the Mets are clearly swimming in both.

“We started 0-5, and now we’re .500,” Stewart said. “We’re never going to give up. We’re going to keep pushing every single day. We’re a close-knit group in this clubhouse. Everyone else can doubt us all they want, but we know what we have in here, and we’re happy with what we have. So we’re going to keep going.”