It wasn’t necessarily pretty, but the Mets held on for a huge 7-5 win over the NL East-leading Braves on Friday night and Devin Williams was a big part of it.
Bo Bichette smashed two home runs and drove in six runs for the Mets, but Nolan McLean wasn’t efficient enough to go deep and the bullpen faltered a bit as Atlanta’s dangerous lineup chipped away at New York’s lead. And with two outs in the eighth and runners on second and third, manager Carlos Mendoza called on his closer to get a four-out save.
Williams has yet to get more than three outs in a single outing as a Met. He didn’t even do it with the Yankees a season ago until the playoffs, so this is uncharted territory for the Mets skipper. But after Eli White hit a sharp single off of third baseman Brett Baty that scored a run, Williams got Rowdy Tellez — who represented the go-ahead run — to fly out and send the game into the ninth.
“We got to a point now where they’re built up, equipped for it,” Mendoza said of his rationale to use Williams for a four-out save. “Once you get in that situation, you’re trying to avoid another high-leverage guy, which was [Luke Weaver]. We get to a point where a four-out save was in play. I thought today, where we were in the game, where we were in the lineup, matchup-wise, that was the decision there.”
After getting Austin Wynns to line out on the first pitch of the ninth, the at-bat of the night occurred. Mauricio Dubon and Williams battled for 14 pitches before the Braves outfielder singled, allowing the tying run to come to the plate.
But Williams didn’t back down. He struck out Michael Harris II on four pitches and got Matt Olson — who homered earlier in the game — to strike out on a foul tip on four pitches to end the game.
“Pretty impressive at-bat by Dubon there, but that’s what makes Devin who he is,” Mendoza said of the ninth. “He knows that even after that long one, he’s got two pretty good hitters coming up. He’s gotta execute, stay on the attack, not get behind in the count. That’s what he did. He went right after them. Huge save for us.”
Friday was Williams’ sixth career save of four or more outs and his first since May 28, 2023. It’s also a continuation of some recent domination from the Mets closer.
He’s now allowed just one run over his last six outings (6.1 IP). He’s also unscored upon in 15 of his last 17 appearances dating back to April 26. His 37 strikeouts this season are the seventh-most among NL relievers.
While Williams will more than likely not be available on Saturday, he delivered a big win to start the weekend series as the Mets continue to climb out of their early-season hole.
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