The Mets came close to a dramatic win on Wednesday night but ultimately fell to the Arizona Diamondbacks, 4–3, in a game that was a pitchers’ duel, until it wasn’t.

Arizona took a one-run lead in the top of the seventh and later added two insurance runs. The Mets mounted a rally in the bottom of the ninth, but it came up just short.

Still, there was a silver lining in the loss, and his name is Brandon Waddell.

Waddell, called up from Triple-A on Wednesday, entered the game in the third inning and delivered 4.1 scoreless innings of relief. The 6’3″ left-hander allowed just three hits, one walk, and struck out three. Simply put, he was lights out.

“I think I can pitch here and that was one of the reasons I really wanted to come back,” he said after his outing. “To be able to do that is pretty cool”.

The southpaw’s path to Wednesday’s moment was anything but ordinary. Drafted in 2015, he had previously logged just 12.1 innings in the majors with the Pirates, Twins, Orioles, and Cardinals. The results weren’t promising: he had a 5.68 ERA and a 2.132 WHIP.

After a two-year stint overseas in Taiwan and Korea, Waddell signed a minor league deal with the Mets this past December. The hope was that the experience and adjustments he made abroad would transform him into a more effective pitcher

On Wednesday, that hope started to look like a reality. Waddell’s performance earned him a standing ovation from the Citi Field crowd.

“Something I definitely didn’t expect,” Waddell said post-game. “But you can feel it as a player. It means a lot to have that support. It’s something we always really cherish.”

With injuries sidelining left-handers A.J. Minter and Danny Young for the foreseeable future, Waddell may have a real shot at sticking around, so long as he keeps getting outs.

If he keeps pitching like he did Wednesday, he could become a key piece in the Mets’ bullpen moving forward.