Mets get vintage Seth Lugo with 5-out masterpiece
Mets relief pitcher Seth Lugo delivers against the Padres during the seventh inning of an MLB game at Citi Field on Sunday. Credit: Kathleen Malone-Van Dyke
The specifics of Seth Lugo’s five-out scoreless masterpiece Wednesday night, which allowed the Mets to score a 3-2 walk-off win over the Yankees moments later, offered clues: He was absolutely amped to be pitching in a tie game before a sold-out Subway Series crowd of 43,693 at Citi Field.
His sequence of pitches in the eighth and ninth innings included not only the outright fastest of his career (a 97.7-mph sinker to Jose Trevino) but also his fastest slider ever (91.7 to Aaron Judge) and the fastest curveball of his season (83.9, also to Trevino), according to MLB’s pitch-tracking technology.
“That,” Lugo said, “was a lot of fun.”
He finished it off by beating Judge, an AL MVP candidate, the same way Max Scherzer did all night: with sliders. The Mets’ ace had held Judge to 0-for-4 with three strikeouts — and four runners left on base — and Judge stepped to the plate again against Lugo with the potential go-ahead run on first base. Like Scherzer, Lugo went to his slider, one of his lesser-used pitches, for two of his four offerings, including the first pitch, a swinging strike, and the last, which yielded a routine grounder to shortstop.
“Obviously, I don’t have the stuff Max has, so I have to use my stuff and see what Judge was doing,” Lugo said. “It seemed like he was a little out front on the slider, so it was a good pitch to throw to him tonight.”
That was the latest in a series of positive signs for Lugo, who has made five consecutive scoreless appearances beginning with the Mets’ visit to the Cubs this month. It was then that he “felt something” in his delivery click, he said.
The results lately have been vintage Lugo, dropping his ERA on the up-and-down season to 3.49.
“I’m starting to feel more like myself,” he said. “It’s nice to have good stuff and feel confident with each pitch you throw. That’s nice peace of mind.”
Lugo’s big outing came a night after Adam Ottavino (2.35 ERA) similarly recorded a huge five outs in a win against the Yankees. As much as the Mets’ bullpen is an area of need in the leadup to the trade deadline Tuesday, if those two perform like that — like their old selves — the late innings could become a massive strength, no matter who the Mets add.
Lugo, though, isn’t worried about being the Lugo of 2018-19.
“I’m not going to sit here and tell you I want to be a previous version of myself,” he said. “Just trying to be the best version of myself that I am now.”
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.
