The Mets needed a big-time outing from Edwin Diaz, and boy, did he deliver.
The All-Star closer entered Tuesday’s game against the Phillies with things knotted at five in the eighth.
Ryan Helsley endured another rough appearance, retiring just one batter and allowing a game-tying two-run home run to former Mets outfielder Harrison Bader.
Helsley then walked the pinch-hitting Bryson Stott, and was booed off the mound by the hometown crowd.
Diaz entered knowing that the speedy Stott was going to be aggressive on the bases.
He immediately stole second, but that proved to be no bother, as Diaz struck out the pinch-hitting Brandon Marsh with a slider in the dirt for the second out of the inning.
Stott then swiped third, but that was no issue for Diaz either, as he retired All-Star shortstop Trea Turner on just four pitches to escape the inning with things still evened up.
“I just tried to stay calm in that situation,” he said. “I know they would run the bases against me with me being slow to that plate, but I was just trying to make pitches and try to make them chase out of the zone.”
After the Mets failed to scratch a run across against Jose Alvarado in the eighth, the righty came back on for the ninth, still in a tie ballgame.
He easily retired the meat of the lineup in order, striking out Kyle Schwarber and Bryce Harper in the process.
Overall, Diaz struck out four of the five batters he faced in 1.2 gutsy innings of work. The closer got seven whiffs on 13 swings with another four called strikes, for a 50 percent called strike-whiff rate.
And he ended up being rewarded for the efforts, as he took home the win after the Mets rallied to walk things off on All-Star closer Jhoan Duran thanks to Brandon Nimmo’s single.
“He was pretty nasty again today, going through their best hitters,” Carlos Mendoza said. “Runner at third with two outs against Turner, he gets him, then he’s going back out against their best guy and makes it look easy. Gives our offense a chance to win the baseball game — it was a huge outing for him.”
It was a huge outing for the Mets as well, as they now have a chance to continue closing the gap and sweep the NL East leading Phillies on Wednesday night.
Read the full article here