Mets need another turnaround to salvage their season
Francisco Lindor of the Mets throws to first base to end the second inning against the Athletics at Citi Field on Wednesday. Credit: Jim McIsaac
The calendar says August, but there were echoes of May haunting Citi Field before Wednesday night’s game against the A’s, a reminder that the Mets had reached another potential tipping point in this turbulent season.
Perhaps the signs weren’t quite as glaring this time around. No one was flinging their glove into the Citi seats, as Jorge Lopez famously did, and the Mets had yet to publicly declare a second clubhouse summit, like the meeting that supposedly dug them out of their early 22-33 hole.
But what was happening to these Mets, the weekend sweep in Seattle followed by the A’s using “OMG” as a weapon in Tuesday’s homecoming smackdown, qualified as a legit crisis just the same. At this time of year, four-game losing streaks are not as easily shrugged off, especially when everyone else in this bottle-necked wild-card race seems to have caught a second wind.
On Wednesday night, backed against the wall, the Mets finally reclaimed their “sense of urgency” as Francisco Lindor later described it, and the team’s MVP -- as he’s done all season -- spearheaded the revival in a 9-1 victory over the A’s. Lindor delivered the loudest message of the 11-hit attack, launching a 397-foot homer into the rightfield bullpen area and then flashing the “OMG” arm gesture toward the A’s relief corps, apparently targeting Citi villain Austin Adams, who taunted the Mets with their own celebration in Tuesday’s loss.
Lindor, whose 100th homer as a Met put them up 2-0 in the third inning, denied any revenge motive with his flapping arms in Adams’ direction. But the connection to Tuesday’s events, and the Mets having a renewed “energy” as manager Carlos Mendoza put it, made it impossible to separate the two.
“It was our bullpen, for sure,” said the smiling Lindor. “Let Adams do whatever he’s got to do. I’m worried about my teammates and we’ve been doing that (celebration) ... for three months.”
Fine, but “OMG” took on more of an edge Wednesday, and not a moment too soon. The Mets are down to 42 games, so snapping this four-game losing streak here in mid-August was a much bigger deal than say, June or July. And the recent trends were alarming. During their nosedive, the Mets had a slash line of .198/.276/.282 while pitching to an 8.18 ERA. Over the four games, they were outscored, 31-5. Adding insult to injury, Adams -- DFA’d in spring training by the Mets -- mocked the whole “OMG” thing (with multiple expletives) after striking out Francisco Alvarez to strand a pair of runners in the fifth inning of Tuesday’s loss.
Leave it to Lindor, the the alpha dog of the Mets’ resurgence, to bring the swagger back, if only for a night. And he got some much-needed help. Pete Alonso, the Mets’ lone All-Star (with an asterisk) who’s been losing money by the day with a sub-par contract push, went 4-for-4 with two singles, a double, home run No. 26 and three RBIs. That rerouted him on a 35-homer pace for the season, and nudged his OPS up to .804.
“This was an unbelievable bounce-back game for us,” said Alonso, whose nose still had the red gash from Tuesday’s face-plant. “It was just such a high-quality team win ... We just needed to respond. For us this was a really important game, not like specifically to this series, but big picture-wise.”
Jeff McNeil and Brandon Nimmo were the only Mets not to reach base or score a run, but at least Nimmo -- who was hitting .145 (12-for-83) with zero homers, three RBIs and a .461 OPS in the past 22 games -- chipped in with sacrifice fly. Baby steps.
The Mets had the most productive offense in the majors for nearly two months, but lately they’d been misfiring on all cylinders, as their rotation has stumbled in sync. And what supposedly was a cushy landing after a grueling West Coast trip -- six straight games at Citi against the A’s and Marlins -- was shaping up to be anything but gentle. Bottom line, there are no pushovers during a stretch run, and it was tough to identify the contending team in the Mets’ series-opening loss Tuesday.
The Mets first saved their season in May when everyone already was mentally preparing for a July 30 fire sale. But Mendoza & Co. have something to lose now. After raising the stakes over the past 2 1/2 months, the Mets can’t fold against the bottom-feeder clubs with only pride left to play for. Sticking it to the Mets, however -- as Adams did with Tuesday’s OMG-inspired antics -- can be a very effective motivating tool.
“At the end of the day, there’s no small opponent,” Lindor said. “We can’t take anyone for granted. This is on us. If we’re going to make the playoffs, it’s on us. This is a great opportunity we have, this is a great time that we’re in a spot to compete for that.”
The Mets got their compete back for Wednesday’s win over the A’s. But it only gets harder as the pressure mounts in the wild-card race.
“We’ve been here before and we’ve gotten through it,” Mendoza said. “We found a way, and we will find a way here.”
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.
