Gary Cohen’s infamous line after Bartolo Colon’s infamous home run has become an overused descriptor, but it does feel justified to lead with “the impossible has happened”; the Mets snapped their 8-game losing streak, beating the Rangers 5-2. It wasn’t a pretty game, nor was it pleasant to watch. The same problems that have existed for a while are still here. But a win is a win, and the Mets found a way to get the monkey off their back while maintaining their playoff spot.
It felt like this would
be another game like most others of recent vintage early on. Nolan McLean looked great, then Francisco Lindor walked and stole second. On queue, Juan Soto struck out, and the Mets did not score. They stranded the bases loaded in the second. They finally pushed one across in the fifth on an RBI groundout and got another run in the sixth on Brandon Nimmo’s home run, but we’ve seen 2-0 leads blown before. It was all very frustrating to watch just because you knew deep down what was coming.
Let’s focus on McLean for a moment longer, because he’s continued to perform at an extraordinarily high level, well above what could’ve been reasonably expected. The rookie starter tallied six more shutout innings, striking out seven and lowering his ERA to 1.19. His stuff continues to look disgusting, both visually and in public facing metrics. He’s been a huge bright spot during a rough stretch of a fairly up-and-down season.
Anyway, back to that lead you were sure they’d blow; no surprise, they did. Reed Garrett coughed up two runs in the top of the seventh, though Calros Mendoza’s mismanagement – which resulted in Brooks Raley being unavailable to face Joc Pederson, who has one of the worst platoon splits in the league – deserves credit as well. Add Garrett to the list of Mets pitchers who are clearly playing hurt and seeing their performance suffer for it.
With the offense sputtering, it sure seemed like the Mets would allow the Rangers to take the lead as well, but a nice play from Francisco Lindor in the ninth (turning a line drive double play) and a gutsy effort from Ryne Stanek in the tenth kept things knotted at two going to the bottom of the tenth.
A brief interlude here, just to remind you how pathetic this series had been to this point for the Mets. They didn’t have a single at bat with RISP against Jacob deGrom or the Rangers in bullpen on Friday. They went 1-for-10 w/ RISP on Saturday, and that one hit didn’t even score a run. And in Sunday’s game, as the Mets tried to cling to a playoff spot and avoid the ignominy of a 9-game losing streak, this lineup – which features four multi-time All Stars, two top-15 hitters by wRC+ (Soto and Alonso), and two top-15 players by fWAR (Soto and Lindor) – managed to go 0-for-8 with men in scoring position in the first nine innings. Soto on his own went 0-for-4 in those spots.
In light of that, it’d be pretty easy to assume the worst in extras; maybe a double-play off the bat of Pete Alonso and a strikeout from Nimmo, perhaps something even more absurd that still left the Mets grasping for runs. But no, the baseball gods showed some mercy. Pete took a fastball down the pipe out over the right-field wall for a walkoff three-run home run, snapping the losing skid. You could almost feel Citi Field take a collective breath as Pete tossed his helmet away and rounded the bases. Maybe there’s still hope after all.
The win moves the Mets to 77-73 on the season and guarantees they’ll be at worst tied with the Giants for the final Wild Card spot when they start their series with the Padres on Tuesday (the Giants are 1 game back, but are playing now and face the Diamondbacks on Monday while the Mets are off). Clay Holmes is slated to start against Michael King, with Sean Manaea potentially working in a piggyback role.
SB Nation GameThreads
Box scores
Win Probability Added
Big Mets winner: Nolan McLean, +35.1% WPA
Big Mets loser: Juan Soto, -13.9% WPA
Mets pitchers: +64.8% WPA
Mets hitters: -14.8% WPA
Teh aw3s0mest play: Pete Alonso hits a three-run walkoff home run in the tenth, +19.0% WPA
Teh sux0rest play: Joc Pederson drives ties the game with a two-run single in the seventh, -28.0% WPA
