After the Mets rallied with five runs in the bottom of the ninth inning for a 6-5 win in the opener, they jumped on top in the fourth inning and held on for a 3-1 win in the nightcap, giving them an emotional sweep of the two games against the Marlins in Citi Field on Tuesday.
The day started with press conferences from Javier Baez and Francisco Lindor in regards to the ridiculous thumbs down kerfuffle. And things looked incredibly bleak when they went to the ninth inning, trailing 5-1.
Chance Sisco drew a one-out walk and Brandon Nimmo followed with a two-run homer to cut the deficit in half. One out later, Dominic Smith singled and Pete Alonso doubled to put two runners in scoring position. Baez followed with an infield single that made it 5-4. Michael Conforto singled to left field and when the outfielder juggled the ball, Baez flew home with the winning run. There was a play at the plate and it looked like Baez got in before the tag but it didn’t matter as the catcher didn’t hang on to the ball.
In the nightcap, Jonathan Villar opened the fourth inning with a single but was out trying to reach third base on Nimmo’s infield hit. After Alonso struck out, Conforto hit a monster HR to right, one that went a couple of rows back in the upper deck. Baez followed with a single and Jeff McNeil drove him home with a double, giving the Mets a 3-0 lead.
The Marlins scored an unearned run in the fifth and had the chance to add more but Aaron Loup started a 1-2-3 double play to limit the damage. Seth Lugo got in and out of trouble in the sixth and Edwin Diaz had a three-up, three-down ninth with two strikeouts to earn his 27th save.
Well, Mets didn’t lose either game today, which might be the start of the needed run. As I said earlier today, with 32 games left they needed to win 23. So now they need to win 21 out of 30 (.700).
Since they play the Marlins and Nats 13 more games, they need to go at least 10-3 to give themselves a chance against the daunting 17 games they play against very formidable teams: NYY, PHIL, MILW, BOS, ATL.
Mets still breathing!
Got to love Baez’s hustle and him knowing what he can do. That slide into the plate that we have now seen twice should be taught to others. No better time than now for the bats to come alive. Too bad they are rained out already for tonight. Got to take this one game at a time and hope we get some help. Let’s not forget the Phillies are in front of us too. As much as I hate 7 inning games, I love them when we win. It’s a catch-22 for me.
Seven inning games are bush league. Hard to understand their meaning.
+1