Kids give Mets a shot at being better than just alright
Mark Vientos of the New York Mets celebrates his seventh inning home run against the Tampa Bay Rays at Citi Field on Wednesday. Credit: Jim McIsaac
It’s impossible to put a finger on what exactly transformed the Mets into a team capable of Wednesday night’s breathtaking 8-7 walkoff victory over the Rays (in 10 innings) at Citi Field.
The long overdue call-up of Mark Vientos earlier that afternoon certainly played a key role, as the power-hitting prospect hammered the game’s first tying homer, a two-run blast in the seventh inning.
Or how about the maturation of Francisco Alvarez, who battled through April growing pains to be the now-confident masher that launched yet another tying shot, a three-run rocket, with two outs in the ninth?
And of course, there was the ailing Pete Alonso, who suited up Wednesday despite being sick and launched the 10th-inning clincher, a 416-foot rainbow that touched down in leftfield’s second deck, kicking off the Mets’ most jubilant celebration of this frustrating season.
“Today was just awesome,” Alonso said. “I mean, having Alvy and Mark come through in really huge situations, I’m really fortunate, because without them coming through in those big spots, I’m not given that opportunity. Our young guys are pros. They put together great at-bats consistently and I’m really thankful for them coming up clutch.”
Vientos, Alvarez and even Brett Baty weren’t really part of Steve Cohen’s $375 million blueprint during the winter. The Mets’ trio of top prospects were fun to dream on, but slotting them into the ’23 World Series plan was difficult to pin down. This year was supposed to lean heavily on the highly-paid All-Stars, the three-time Cy Young winners, the core with the proven major-league resumes.
The best-case scenarios didn’t really feature any of these prospects as significant contributors right away, despite impressive spring-training tours that put them more prominently on the radar. And yet, here they all are, sharing the same clubhouse again -- only in Flushing rather than Syracuse -- and the Mets’ October goals could very well depend on them.
Baty has been the steadiest contributor, and he was the one to finally snap the Mets’ inexplicable 56-inning homerless streak Tuesday night. But the newly-arrived Vientos and the gradually-ascending Alvarez took center stage Wednesday in walloping spectacular homers that literally made the Mets believe in themselves again. A timely bolt of youthful enthusiasm can help create amazing feats.
“I feel like, personally, we give each other confidence,” Vientos said. “We see each other doing it. We grew up through the system with each other and we know each other like we’re basically brothers. It gives us the confidence that we can go out there and do our thing, just like we were doing in Triple-A. We were hitting balls over the fence, scoring runs. We can do that over here, too.”
No doubt. The Mets trailed, 2-0, in a seventh inning that opened with Starling Marte getting booed on a strikeout. But after Mark Canha got drilled by a pitch -- no surprise there -- Vientos crushed an 0-and-1 slider from Rays reliever Ryan Thompson. The ball sailed to the left of the blacked-out batter’s eye in centerfield as a fired-up Vientos pumped his fist and screamed rounding first base.
Smashing dingers is hardly new for Vientos. He had 13 homers at Syracuse with a 1.104 OPS. But nobody could have envisioned this hero’s turn in his first game back, or what Vientos could help unleash from the rest of his teammates.
If only the Mets had promoted him weeks earlier, because Vientos evidently was contagious (but not in a bad way like the runny-nose Alonso). As quickly as the Rays took back the lead in the 8th inning from Adam Ottavino on Brandon Lowe’s two-run shot, all that did was cue the drama for Alvarez. When the Rays’ Jason Adam tried to get a 1-and-0 sweeper past him, Alvarez destroyed the pitch, sending it 426 feet.
While it was a majestic home run, that was nothing compared to the bat flip, with Alvarez flinging it high into the air, like a college graduate heaving his cap into the sky at commencement.
“I was really excited, because I knew we had an opportunity to win there,” Alvarez said through an interpreter.
That chance didn’t come until the 10th inning, and after the Rays went ahead again, this time by the score of 7-5. With two on, up came the sickly Alonso, hitless to that point. And when Pete Fairbanks threw him a 98-mph four-seamer, Alonso treated it like batting practice, muscling the game-winner for what the Mets hope is a season-turning victory.
“There’s never a doubt in our minds,” Alonso said, his nose red and eyes watery. “We keep fighting, we keep doing the best we can, every single day, every pitch, every out. And that’s all we can do. Do the best we can, and see how it plays out.”
There’s plenty of season left. And with the kids on board, maybe these Mets can be different going forward, in the best possible way.
David Lennon is an award-winning columnist, a voter for baseball's Hall of Fame and has covered six no-hitters, including two perfect games.
