Mets win ninth in a row, and close in on club-record winning streak

No doubt, the early surprise of the 2015 is the first-place New York Mets. After winning their ninth game in a row Tuesday night, the 11-3 Mets sit atop the National League East division and have the best record in the entire NL.

Of course, it’s early, but the Mets look like they are for real. And a nine-game winning streak at any time of year is worth standing up and taking notice. They are two wins away from matching the franchise record for consecutive wins at 11, last accomplished in 1980. Imagine the buzz if the Mets were riding an 11-game win streak on Friday when they head up to the Bronx to face the very-average Yankees in a weekend subway series. But let’s not get ahead of ourselves.

It seems early on in this magical season every time somebody goes down, another player steps up. On Tuesday it was catcher Kevin Plawecki, who was making his major-league debut. The former first-round pick went 2-for-4 with two runs scored, and threw out a runner in a 7-1 win over the Braves.

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But the biggest reason for the streak, and the reason it seems sustainable, is their pitching staff. The motley crew includes a doughy 42 year old junk-ball thrower in Bartolo Colon, the reigning rookie of the year in Jacob deGrom, and Matt Harvey, at 26 already once an All-Star and Tommy John survivor. And they’ve all been great. Putting value in pitching wins may be a fools game, but it’s worth noting the Mets starting five are a combined 10-2. They’re going deep into games and making things easier on their bullpen. Mets pitching has the fourth best earned-run average in the majors, and the second fewest walks.

The Mets are winning despite missing some key contributors, too. Perennial All-Star third baseman is on the disabled list with a hamstring injury. Catcher Travis d’Arnaud just joined him there with a hand injury. Reliable reliever Jerry Blevins is out at least six weeks, and former closer Jenrry Mejia was put on the DL then shockingly suspended 80 for testing positive for Stanozolol, a banned PED.

The Mets go for double-digits on Wednesday night against the Braves.

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Ian Denomme is an editor and writer for Yahoo Sports. Email him at denomme@yahoo-inc.com or follow him on Twitter.