Vincent Carchietta-USA TODAY Sports

With the Mets up 5-4 in the bottom of the tenth, Buck Showalter handed the ball to right-handed pitcher Adonis Medina, who the Mets acquired from the Pirates in April. It was a big spot for the 25-year old and just his sixth Mets appearance, but as Ron Darling of SNYtv quoted on Sunday’s broadcast, “The Mets have called on all 26 [players] all season long. Why should it change today?”

Medina was forced to face the top of the Dodgers’ lineup Mookie Betts, Freddie Freeman, and Trea Turner. Betts was 0-for-4 coming into the tenth, Freeman was 2-for-4, and Turner was 2-for-4.

Medina quickly got the first two outs of the inning by forcing Betts to fly out and Freeman to ground out. Turner then reached on a catcher’s interference by Tomas Nido to put the tying run on with two outs so Medina was forced to throw to Will Smith who was 1-for-4 on the night. In a huge spot with the atmosphere that many players called “playoff-like,” Medina struck out Smith to end the inning, closing out a 5-4 Mets win, securing a series split for the Mets and Dodgers, and the young 25-year old from the Dominican Republic earned his first career save to put the cherry on top of a fantastic inning of work in a big spot.

Medina threw just 17 pitches Sunday, 13 of which were for strikes.

So far in 2022, Medina is 1-0 with a 4.66 ERA over six games pitched and one save, coming Sunday against the Dodgers. He has given up 11 hits, five earned runs, and struck out eight over the course of 9.2 innings pitched this season.

In his post-game interview, J.D. Davis had just three words: “Medina, man. MEDINA!” Davis praised Medina saying to face Betts, Freeman, Turner, and Smith, and retiring three of them is a huge confidence builder for him. “To come in here to a tough environment; throw a rubber game, to face Will; he could be the best hitter in the NL. But those two guys (Turner and Freeman), their stats speak for themselves, so Medina coming up huge in that last inning, just able to throw strikes and do what he does best… We’re proud, man, we’re happy.”

Medina spoke on his outing after the game, calling his Sunday afternoon performance ‘one of the biggest moments of his career.’

“For me, this has been one of the biggest moments of my career. To have the team have that trust in me, to pitch in that big spot, it’s really been everything for me.”

Eduardo Escobar praised Medina’s clutch performance, saying he was happy for him and proud of him as well. “He threw like a veteran, like the big boy he is.”

Edwin Diaz also spoke about Medina’s outing. “He did a great job. I think everybody’s doing a great job from the bullpen,” said Diaz. “He came to face the heart of the order too and he got good outs. I’m happy for him.”