Mets make incredible 10-win streak a reality

NEW YORK -- Now it's Matt Harvey in the trainer's room, joining David Wright, Travis d'Arnaud and so many others. The Mets' clubhouse is an infirmary. They have nine players on the disabled list. Two others traveled to Manhattan on Wednesday for medical examinations. The Mets can't seem to catch a break.

Except, of course, for the 3-2 win they scored over the Braves at Citi Field on Wednesday. And the one before that. And the one before that, and the one before that -- 10 in all, matching the club's longest winning streak in seven years. Healthy or not, the Mets went to sleep on Wednesday night sporting the best record in Major League Baseball, thanks to a streak that stands one win shy of the longest this franchise has ever seen. They are tied for the best start in club history with the 1986 Mets, a team that folks in Flushing tend to remember.

The Mets are not there yet -- not even close. But their ability to win despite a tidal wave of reasons why they shouldn't has their confidence at an all-time high.

"I don't have any words for it," manager Terry Collins said.

In reality, Collins had a few, his go-to being "amazing." And in many ways, Wednesday was. To win their 10th straight, the Mets twice needed to come from behind, with Wilmer Flores hitting a single and a homer to oblige both times. They needed a strong performance from their struggling fifth starter, Dillon Gee, who takes the mound each week fighting for his job -- fighting to remain a part of all this. They needed Curtis Granderson to spark the winning rally in the eighth, which he did by drawing a six-pitch walk after falling into an 0-2 hole. They needed Lucas Duda to serve yet another RBI hit to the opposite field, this one a game-winner. They needed Jeurys Familia, who did not open this season in the closer's role, to nail down his seventh save in two weeks.

Video: ATL@NYM: Familia fans Johnson to end the game

Improbability after improbability. And yet for the 20,971 who paid their way into Citi Field on a cold, rainy night that saw both teams wait out a 31-minute delay, all of it seemed credible. These are the types of things the Mets have done throughout the first nine games of their 10-game homestand, transforming their constitution before everyone's eyes.

"It's fun to be playing baseball right now," Duda said. "Hopefully, we'll keep it going."

Though no team can sustain this level of play forever, particularly with several of its best players injured, the Mets are building enough of a cushion to ensure their relevance throughout this summer. That's a big deal for a team widely picked to finish third, maybe second in the National League East, a division it has not owned since 2006.

These days, the Mets are doing lots of things they have not done since 2006. They're doing other things they have not done since 1986.

Even crazier, they're starting to expect those sorts of things on a nightly basis.

"You don't go out there and think about trying to win 10 games straight," Flores said. "You just go out there and think about executing what you have to do. And if you do it, you win."

And win and win and win.