The Mets continue getting the job done late in games.
New York was stymied by old friend Adrian Houser over the first seven innings on Monday afternoon — but they were finally able to string together some knocks after getting into the shaky White Sox bullpen.
Francisco Alvarez has been struggling against fastballs of late, but he squared up a 2-2 offering low in the zone from left-hander Cam Booser to get things started leading off the eighth with a single.
Luisangel Acuña then came off the bench and his speed made an immediate difference, as he went first to third on a Brandon Nimmo single to right and then scored the tying run on a Juan Soto flyout to shallow left.
“Alvarez’s ability to work an at-bat was a good sign,” Carlos Mendoza said. “That’s where it starts — getting on time allows you to make good swing decisions. It was good to see him getting us going there in the eighth.”
“Acuña there is a real weapon for us,” the skipper added. “Even though he’s not getting everyday playing time, you feel like at some point he’s going come in and he’s going to help you do something to win a baseball game.”
An inning later, the Mets were able to pull out that victory.
After Edwin Diaz struck out three batters in the top of the ninth, Tyrone Taylor continued his stretch of strong play on both sides of the ball by driving a 2-2 sweeper into the left-center field gap for a leadoff double.
Jeff McNeil was then intentionally walked and a Luis Torrens single loaded the bases for Francisco Lindor, who jumped on a first pitch sweeper and crushed it to deep right for a game-winning sacrifice fly.
“I was just looking for something in the area I wanted, and it showed up,” Lindor said after picking up his third walk-off RBI of the season.
“The moment is never too big for him,” Mendoza added. “He’s aggressive with pitches to hit and he’s got conviction when he’s making those decisions — that’s what great players do over and over and over, and he keeps doing it for us.”
The Mets have now delivered five walk-off wins on the season.
They’ve also shown that fight that was on display so often during their NLCS run last year, coming from behind in 13 of their 33 victories on the year thus far.
“No matter what inning it is, we trust our guys,” Taylor said.
“It puts a smile on our faces,” Lindor added. “There’s different ways of winning games and today was one of them. Going first-to-third, sac-flies, good defense, the bullpen coming in and doing the job. Whenever it seems like things aren’t clicking, things are clicking, it’s a good thing.”
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