DJ Stewart continues wild hot streak in Mets' win over Rangers
Mets rightfielder DJ Stewart celebrates in the dugout after hitting a home run against the Rangers in the second inning at Citi Field on Wednesday. Credit: Noah K. Murray
Think of it this way: DJ Stewart really, really wants a job — with the Mets or anyone else — come spring training.
He continued his torrid streak in the Mets’ 6-5, extra-inning win over the Rangers with a walk-off hit-by-pitch, two more home runs and a wall-rattling catch in the ninth inning.
The Citi Field crowd of 23,849 chanted his name after the running grab to rob Marcus Semien of an extra-base hit, helping keep the game tied.
“Any time you sign a one-year deal, you’re playing for a job next year,” the 29-year-old Stewart said. “I’m just happy to be healthy. I love New York. I really enjoy being here. My family enjoys it. I’m hoping I’m doing enough to stay here. I’m playing for everyone, but I’d like to be here.”
Jeff Brigham escaped a bases-loaded, no-outs jam on the top of the 10th inning, setting up Stewart’s fleeting, game-winning plate appearance. Aroldis Chapman hit him with a first-pitch fastball.
For Stewart, eight long balls in his past 13 games gives him nine on the season. That is the sixth-best total on the team even though he wasn’t called up from the minors until early July — as much an indictment of the Mets’ offense as it is a credit to Stewart’s recent run.
Stewart, who joined the Mets on a minor-league contract in February, has a .279 average and 1.015 OPS.
In parts of five seasons with the Orioles, including a cameo under Buck Showalter in 2018, he hit .213 with a .728 OPS.
“He just keeps grinding, keeps wanting to prove people wrong,” Showalter said. “He’s really jumped at the opportunity we’ve given him.”
Stewart’s first homer was a solo shot, the back end of a back-to-back sequence with Daniel Vogelbach in the second inning.
In the bottom of the eighth, after Brooks Raley and Adam Ottavino combined to give up three runs, Stewart did it again, launching a tying two-run shot to left.
Fans yelled his name in unison a half-inning later after his catch.
“It was awesome. It really was,” Stewart said. “It’s been a tough year for us as a team, but you enjoy those little moments. For me to start the season in Syracuse and come up here and hear that, it’s really awesome.”
Notes & quotes: Carlos Carrasco was available out of the bullpen Wednesday, manager Buck Showalter said before the game, though Denyi Reyes (5 1/3 innings, two runs) pitched well enough that the Mets didn’t need to use him. Carrasco’s status is uncertain amid a string of especially bad starts in his overall poor season, but Showalter also said he might start Saturday . . . Showalter on having Ichiro Suzuki don a Diamondbacks uniform during a visit to Japan in the 1990s: “I was trying to steal the national treasure.”
Tim Healey is the Mets beat writer for Newsday. Born on Long Island and raised in Connecticut, Tim has previously worked for the South Florida Sun Sentinel, the Boston Globe and MLB.com. He is also the author of “Hometown Hardball,” a book about minor league baseball in the northeast.
