3 takeaways as Mets begin to charge in series win over Angels

After an atrocious month of April, the Mets opened the second full month of the season on a far more positive note. Despite losing their second shortstop to injury, the Mets continued to get quality starting pitching from Clay Holmes and saw their offense roar to life late in a 5-1 victory over the Angels on Sunday afternoon at Angel Stadium. With the win, the Mets won their first series of the month, improving to 12-22, as they worked through the first set in their nine-game west coast road trip which continues on Monday against the Rockies in Denver.

The series opener between those two sides has already been pushed up to 5:40 p. m. due to the potential for frigid, damp weather.

As the Mets opened their journey on a high note, here are the three things that stood out from the series finale: Clay Holmes continues to be top notch It looked like Clay Holmes' seventh start had gone off the rails in the early going. The Mets veteran right-hander walked the first two batters of the game and allowed a one-out single to Jorge Soler as the Mets dropped quickly into a 1-0 deficit in the first inning. Holmes needed 27 pitches to get through the frame.

But Holmes leaned into his bread-and-butter - his sinker - to work efficiently from there. He only needed 37 pitches to get through the next three innings, facing one batter over the minimum, and allowing the Mets to jump out in front. "Before you know it, he's able to get into those middle innings," Carlos Mendoza told reporters.