The Mets were beating up on the Yankees and Citi Field felt like a party, with a 12-6 score and three outs to go. In the span of four days they’ve managed to change the vibe dramatically, from the embarrassment of that lopsided sweep in Pittsburgh to once again looking like a team headed for October.
And yet here came Edwin Diaz, six-run lead or not, because for all the good the Mets have done, their starting rotation is still decimated by injury, leaving them without an obvious starter for the final game of this series on Sunday.
So manager Carlos Mendoza wasn’t taking any chances.
Or as he put it, “I wasn’t going to mess around.”
It was absolutely the right move, considering the Mets came into this second installment of the Subway Series with the odds stacked against them because of the pitching matchups.
And here they were with a chance to steal not one, but both of the first two games. No reason to tempt fate by trying to save Diaz for a save opportunity on Sunday that, again, seems highly unlikely.
Hey, at this point anything is possible, especially the way the Yankees are playing, now having lost six straight games as their pitching continues to falter, this time not the bullpen but in the name of starter Carlos Rodón.
And the Mets, well, they’re hot again and their stars are playing like stars, with Brandon Nimmo and Pete Alonsocombining for three home runs and nine RBI to run away from the Yankees on Sunday.
It’s been that way since Nimmo hit the grand slam in the second game of the doubleheader against the Milwaukee Brewers on Wednesday, the first step toward stopping the bleeding of that 3-14 stretch they endured.
It’s the only way it was going to happen. It’s the way they’re built, the main reason their payroll exceeds $300 million.
Yes, the Mets have shown a collective toughness again, to be sure, but more than anything this four-game winning streak has been driven by the big boys in the lineup, with Nimmo, Alonso, Francisco Lindor, and Juan Soto.
And never mind that Soto thought it was a good idea to bunt in the first inning on Saturday after the first two hitters reached base. You could hear the collective groan from the fans in the ballpark, one day after Soto had hit that electrifying home run in the first inning to change the nature of Friday’s game.
But when you’re going well in baseball, things tend to go your way. And so while Soto’s sac bunt only served to get Alonso walked semi-intentionally, it paid off when Nimmo hit his second grand slam in four days.
Even Mendoza couldn’t hide a chuckle when asked about Soto’s bunt.
“It’s part of the show,” he said. “I definitely want him swinging the bat. But I trust these guys with their decision-making.”
Then he smiled again, knowing there really was no defending the decision.
“Hey, it worked out for the best.”
Nimmo and Alonso took care of that. Alonso went deep twice, accounting for five runs and raising his home run total to 20 and his career total to 246, drawing him to within six of Darryl Strawberry’s club record.
Soto had a quiet day, sac bunt and all, but he was the star on Friday and continues to look locked in at the plate.
Finally, Lindor has come alive again lately as well, and was in the middle of all the scoring on Saturday, with two hits, two walks, a stolen base and four runs scored.
The Big Four. They’re a little bit like the Los Angeles Dodgers in that way, dependent on the top of the lineup if they’re going deep into October.
It’s the way it is. The young kids haven’t delivered to this point on their potential, and even with Jesse Winker back soon and a pick-up of some kind at the trading deadline, it’s possible not a lot will change this season.
A lot could and likely will change on the pitching side. Help could be on the way in the next several days in the form of their top two starters, Kodai Senga and Sean Manaea each expected to make a start at least by next weekend, going into the All-Star break.
But for now, it’s a day-to-day proposition. Two days after Justin Hagenman and Austin Warren got them through five innings, the Mets again will try to patch together a game on Sunday with names no one expected to be anywhere near their starting rotation this season.
Lefty Brandon Waddell, a 31-year old with all of 30 innings pitched in the big leagues, is expected to get the bulk of the innings, whether as a starter or in relief of an opener, perhaps Huascar Brazoban again.
It’s the reason Mendoza didn’t think twice about sending Diaz out there for the ninth inning on Saturday with that six-run lead. He actually got the most recent acquisition, Zach Pop, up briefly in the bottom of the eighth in case the Mets made it, say, a 10-run lead.
But no, the manager wasn’t messing with the karma. The odds are stacked higher than ever against them Sunday, with Max Fried pitching for the Yankees. So while Mendoza would never say it publicly, he’s probably perfectly fine going 2-1 in this series and getting one day closer to having his two best pitchers back on the mound.
Until then, well, going 2-0 against the Yankees felt like a party.
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