PHILADELPHIA — For the second time this week, the New York Mets pulled out a gut-check victory late to avoid a sweep.
New York scored twice in the top of the 11th and stranded the tying run at third in the bottom of the frame, holding off the Philadelphia Phillies for a 6-5 win at Citizens Bank Park.
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Much like Sunday’s walk-off win to stun Atlanta, Thursday felt too much like a must-win for the month of May — the importance of snagging the victory only increasing as the momentum shifted hands each half-inning down the stretch. The Mets fumbled a 2-0 lead in the sixth and a 4-3 advantage in the ninth; Edwin Díaz blew a save for the third time in his last four chances.
But New York also rebounded throughout the night — to take the lead back in the eighth with a pair of two-out runs, to hold the Phillies scoreless in a make-or-break 10th inning, and to retake the lead in the 11th.
“It was amazing to get that W,” said starter Jose Quintana, who allowed two runs in 5 1/3 innings. “We stuck together.”
Pete Alonso rockets one outta here! 🚀 pic.twitter.com/nCyzpScmGm
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The victory comes at a pivotal time for the Mets. This week, with its series against the club’s chief division rivals, always loomed as an important checkpoint for New York.
Thursday marked the Mets’ 43rd game of the season; president of baseball operations David Stearns had said previously that he starts evaluating the team more earnestly after 45 games. He’d gotten a jump-start on that process earlier in the week when he designated veteran Joey Wendle for assignment and promoted Mark Vientos in his place.
And after a shoddy performance Wednesday night, manager Carlos Mendoza addressed the team to reinforce how it needed to play — his first in-season team meeting as a major-league manager. (Mendoza followed Thursday with his first public-downplaying-of-a-team-meeting as a major-league manager.)
“He’s been pretty consistent all year, which is to stay positive, stay in the moment,” Harrison Bader said. “It’s about the next opportunity.”
Despite not starting the game, Bader delivered two of its biggest hits: a two-out, run-scoring single up the middle to tie the game in the eighth and a double in the 11th to set up an insurance run the Mets needed in the bottom of the inning. J.D. Martinez contributed the go-ahead single in the 11th, and Jorge López faced down the middle of the Philadelphia order with no margin for error in the 10th and escaped unscathed.
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“What a great team win,” Mendoza said. “Guys picked each other up.”
The crests and troughs Thursday mirrored what the Mets have endured all season.
J.D. Martinez swings at the first pitch of the 11th inning and gives the Mets a 5-4 lead! pic.twitter.com/SolvoWVGeA
— SNY (@SNYtv) May 17, 2024
“We’ve had periods where we’ve been really good, and we’ve had periods where we haven’t played well enough,” Stearns said before the game. “And that leads to the record we have, which is probably pretty indicative of how we’ve played over this first quarter of the season. I think we’re a good team. I think we have a talented group that has a run in it. And we probably haven’t played our best baseball yet.”
What gives Stearns that confidence?
“We have players with track records, who have performed over the course of their careers,” he said. “We’re going to get a little healthier here as we go through the next month, which I think helps. We played a pretty tough schedule, as well, which is part of our story so far this year.
“And look, we’ve got to play a little bit better. Frankly, it doesn’t really matter what I think or what anyone thinks. What matters is how we ultimately play.”
New York still needs more from those players with impressive track records. Díaz, who provided the Mets with their largest marginal advantage during their 101-win season in 2022, is still searching for his old form. He felt better with his mechanics Thursday, and he was happy to slow the game down and keep the game tied after Bryson Stott’s well-placed single tied it. (Preventing the game from speeding up has been a priority for Díaz, who is still growing accustomed to the pitch clock.)
Francisco Lindor went 0-for-5 with three strikeouts, including one with the go-ahead run on third in the 10th. Lindor’s average for the season dipped below .200. On the other hand, Pete Alonso got the Mets on the board with a first-inning laser to left, his seventh extra-base hit in the last eight games.
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“I fully expect we’re going to look up at the end of the year and he’s going to have a Francisco Lindor-type year,” Stearns said pregame. “He’s a really good player.”
Stearns is right, though, that how he or the team feels in the moment is less important than how it plays. In that regard, Thursday offered something of a blueprint in belief. Now it’s about the next opportunity.
(Photo of Francisco Lindor and Starling Marte celebrating Thursday’s win: Matt Slocum / Associated Press)
Tim Britton is a senior writer for The Athletic covering the New York Mets. He has covered Major League Baseball since 2009 and the Mets since 2018. Prior to joining The Athletic, he spent seven seasons on the Red Sox beat for the Providence Journal. He has also contributed to Baseball Prospectus, NBC Sports Boston, MLB.com and Yahoo Sports. Follow Tim on Twitter @TimBritton
