Mark Canha breaks out of slump, helps power Mets to sweep of Phillies: 'All it takes is a few good swings'
Mark Canha came into this week’s three-game series against the Philadelphia Phillies hitting just .233, not quite putting up the kind of production he’d hoped for in his second season in Queens.
In his last 10 games prior to the start of the series, Canha hit just .217 with no homers and no RBI.
But as he explained after Thursday’s 4-2 win, in which the Mets completed a sweep of the Phillies, sometimes all it takes is “a few good swings” to get things moving in the right direction.
After hitting a two-run home run and driving in two more with an RBI single in Wednesday night’s win, Canha once against provided some power in Thursday’s matinee, blasting a two-run home run off of Taijuan Walker in the fourth inning.
“I’m just trying to have good at-bats, really not try to do too much,” Canha said after the game. “Today, when I hit that homer, we had a runner on second and I was just trying to hit a single up the middle, and sometimes when you kind of make the moment smaller than it is and not try to do too much, good things happen.
He later added: “If anything, it’s an overarching statement of all it takes is a couple of good swings to get you feeling good. If you look at my last couple of days, I’ve had three good swings and all of a sudden in 48 hours it’s gone from me having this … Mark Canha is struggling, and now I’m picking it up. So, all it takes is a few good swings to bring you back.”
While Canha was the offensive star of the series, going 3-for-5 with a walk, two homers, and six RBI in the two games he started, it was Max Scherzer who dominated on the mound on Thursday, pitching seven innings while allowing just two runs (one earned) to go along with nine strikeouts.
After the game, Max said he was thrilled to see Canha break out of his funk and help lead the way in the series sweep.
“Obviously, Mark had a great swing today with the home run, and him starting to come alive and catching fire here, that’s what we need,” Scherzer said.
“When you start seeing somebody who’s been scuffling because this is the big leagues and people are going to scuffle… it’s great to see when they come out of it and they’re swinging away and catching fire. Mark’s that guy right now and he’s been going out there and giving us huge at bats. Today, with that two-run homer, that really gave us some breathing room and get the lead and allowed me to go out there and do my job.”
Canha’s fifth home run of the season put the Mets up for good, and it also continued what’s been a torrid stretch for him against the Phillies.
Dating back to last season, Canha has four home runs and 11 RBI in his last three games against the Phillies, tying him with Mike Piazza (2002) and Michael Conforto (2018) for the most runs driven in by a Met in any three-game stretch against Philadelphia.
“I think it’s just coincidental that I’m doing well against the Phillies, but it’s a divisional opponent so I’m happy to help, and these are big wins that are great to get,” he said.
“We’ve got to keep it going. I think we haven’t been as great as we should have been in the first couple of months. We’re making up a little bit of ground, but I think we’ve got to just keep going and keep looking ahead and not get too high on this one or too low when the lows happen. … I think we’ve got a lot of good things going on in here in the clubhouse and lot of guys are going pretty good. Just keep your head down and keep pushing.”
