Mets show they can hang with anybody in baseball
The Mets’ Mark Vientos celebrates his solo home run with an OMG sign in the dugout during the seventh inning against the Baltimore Orioles in an MLB game at Citi Field on Wednesday. Credit: Kathleen Malone-Van Dyke
Dig up whatever data you like, pick any sort of analytical device in trying to calculate the Mets’ odds of qualifying for the October tournament.
But in reality, it’s not that complicated. Carlos Mendoza & Co. went head-to-head with the American League’s top two World Series contenders and finished 6-1 against the Yankees and Orioles.
You want to blame timing or slumps or injuries, that’s fine. But in MLB’s dogpile of mediocrity this season, these feisty Mets are capable of trading punches with anyone -- and still be the team standing when the dust clears.
We’re not talking about parade plans for the Canyon of Heroes. Let’s not get crazy. But zeroing in on these next five weeks, it would be nuts to think the Mets can’t muster the same kind of no-quit energy, the same dramatic flair, that spurred two walkoff-homer victories in three games against the Orioles.
On Wednesday, it was the newly-imported Jesse Winker -- previously the villain Flushing loved to hate -- doing the honors by taking Orioles closer Seranthony Dominguez deep into the leftfield seats to deliver a 4-3 victory.
If that sounds vaguely familiar, it should, considering that two days earlier Francisco Alvarez -- another Met aching to make an impact -- sentenced Dominguez to an identical walk of shame by belting a 3-and-0 pitch into roughly the same zip code as Winker’s 417-foot blast. And just like Alvarez, Winker savored every second of the celebration, which began well before he even touched first base.
Halfway up the line, Winker stood facing the Mets’ emptying dugout and slammed a two-handed spike of his helmet, sending his teammates into a frenzy as the fired-up crowd of 32,871 at Citi Field went wild. At the end, Winker exchanged low-fives with Francisco Lindor, Jose Iglesias and Harrison Bader in a raucous receiving line that began roughly 20 feet before home plate.
“Full blackout,” Winker said. “I have no other answer than that. It was a full blackout moment for me. You just want to help any way you can and I was just really happy.”
Happy doesn’t seem to cover it. More like ecstatic, and the Mets have every reason to be thrilled about taking two of three from the Orioles, a series victory that Mendoza described as “huge” in the context of the opponent’s strength and what lies ahead in San Diego and Arizona.
They got another dominating mound performance, as Sean Manaea followed up David Peterson’s Monday gem with a perfect-game bid that was one strike away from surviving the sixth inning. But Manaea plunked Jackson Holliday on the shoulder, and his very next pitch wound up in the rightfield bleachers, courtesy of Austin Slater’s tying two-run homer.
Manaea had toyed with the Orioles to that point, striking out nine, and with 61 pitches through five innings, there was a real possibility of Mendoza giving him a chance to go the distance if the no-no was intact. Deep down, Mendoza was probably somewhat relieved it didn’t come to that -- he wants to preserve Manaea’s renewed brilliance (2.61 ERA, 31 IP in last five GS) -- and the other Mets were ready to pick him up after his exit in the seventh.
“Ultimately the goal for me is to go deep into games and help this team win,” said Manaea, who’s been very effective at that lately. “I feel like if I’m able to do that, we can put ourselves in a good spot.”
Just like Monday, Mendoza’s crew kicked away leads in this one, too. Francisco Lindor went deep in the third inning to put them up, 1-0, making him one of only four players -- along with Shohei Ohtani, Jose Ramirez and Bobby Witt Jr. -- with 25 home runs and 25 stolen bases this season. Mark Vientos hammered his 20th homer to break a 2-2 tie in the seventh inning, but that edge soon disappeared on Adley Rutschman’s sac fly in the eighth.
After Manaea’s sterling effort, along with the timely homers by Lindor and Vientos, the O’s catching up yet again was a serious downer. And in that moment, it would’ve been easy for some doubt to creep back in, especially with the West Coast looming. But these Mets aren’t wired like that, and Winker -- also inserted as a pinch-hitter, like Alvarez was -- seems to be a perfect fit.
“It’s what you play for -- playoff baseball, right?” said Winker, who couldn’t have picked a better time for his first Mets’ homer. “Just the opportunity. It’s a blessing to be part of something bigger than yourself, so it’s really cool.”
A number of Mets described this pivotal 10-game stretch as an October-caliber stage. And if that’s the case, they look up to the task so far. Conquering the Orioles was a solid -- and necessary -- start to their playoff audition.
“They’re hungry, relentless, and that’s what it’s all about,” Mendoza said. “Especially at this time of the year, when you’re playing meaningful games. You have to find a way to get the job done.”
These Mets keep doing that, often when everyone least expects it. But they made believers of the Orioles this week, and that list could grow soon.
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.
