SALT & PEPPER’S HERE

Frazier’s grind-it-out slogan makes it to T-shirts during Mets’ historic start

MIAMI — Todd Frazier would like to get Sandy Alderson into a Tshirt. Maybe Mets owner Fred Wilpon and his son, team COO Jeff Wilpon, would like a complementary Salt and Pepper grinder Tshirt, too.

Frazier has been the impetus behind the Mets’ unique “Salt and Pepper” celebrations. The reference to the way the Mets grind out wins is now everywhere around the team. Salt-N-Pepa’s “Push It” was on repeat Tuesday night in the jubilant clubhouse. Wednesday night, after the Mets rallied to sweep a six-game road trip for only the second time in team history, Frazier was offering his new line of T-shirts to his teammates, coaches and the rest of the Mets traveling party. He was extending the offer to the Mets’ buttoned-down GM, Alderson, and the ownership group as well.

“I want to make sure everyone in the whole organization gets one,” Frazier said, nodding to an open box of orange T-shirts next to his locker. “I just got a new box. We’re good to go.”

Laughing, Frazier said that Alderson and both Wilpons are welcome to a T-shirt, “if they’d like one, sure.”

The Mets return to Citi Field Friday night riding high on an eight-game winning streak and boasting the best record in baseball. They posted their major-league leading sixth come-from-behind win Wednesday night, rallying in the eighth inning to beat the lowly Marlins. They can afford to have some fun. They are winning, joking around and building a team personality — with a big boost from Frazier and his T-shirts.

But they are also building a solid foundation on the field for later in the season.

Most notably, they are building up wins. At 10-1, they own the best record in baseball. They swept the Nationals, who they are expected to battle for the National League East crown, and did the same with the Marlins, who they need to beat-up on this season to contend in the division.

The Mets have gone 9-0 in the NL East so far this season and are off to a great start in terms of laying a foundation for their playoff hopes.

They need to keep winning the games they are expected to win.

They have 51 more games this year against the Marlins, Phillies and Braves, teams that are young and rebuilding. They are teams that the Mets have to consistently handle to stay ahead of the Nationals in the division race.

Last season, the Mets went 6-13 against Washington. They jumped on the Nationals, who were without slugger Daniel Murphy, early this season with a sweep in D.C. They will get another chance at the Nats next week at Citi Field, again without Murphy.

But perhaps more important for the Mets is how they handle the rest of the NL East — teams they are expected to beat. They went 12-7 against both the Braves and Phillies, but the Marlins gave them problems. They went just 7-12 against the pesky Fish in 2017.

Wednesday night, they completed a sweep of the Marlins for the first time since 2015.

“We took care of business here,” said Mets slugger Michael Conforto, whose pinch-hit double in the eighth sparked the four-run rally that led to the Mets’ comeback win. “Everything just seems to be working out right. I’ve never seen it at this level, where things just keep going right.”

Their ability to come back, on display Wednesday night when they rallied after being no-hit for six innings, is another foundation that the Mets feel will be helpful later in the season. It is helping them build an offensive confidence they have not had in past years.

It is something that Mets manager Mickey Callaway thinks will serve them well down the stretch.

“I think what we are going to see throughout the season is when we are down, we know how to get the job done,” Callaway said. “We’re never going to give up.”