Credit: Brad Penner-USA TODAY Sports
Mama, there goes that man again!
Yes, it was once again backup catcher Patrick Mazeika, who played hero in the ninth inning with another walk-off ground ball for the Mets in their thrilling 3-2 comeback victory over the Baltimore Orioles.
“I hit it straight into the ground for the third time in a row, but I got the job done,” said Mazeika.
Oddly enough, Mazeika now has three RBIs in his first four major league at-bats without recording a hit.
“I think I’ve put three balls in play in the big leagues and all three haven’t gone 70 feet,” said Mazeika. “So definitely not (ideal). But as long as it gets the job done.”
Mazeika also played hero in Friday night’s win over the Arizona Diamondbacks with a walk-off dribbler, and while that moment was special for him, Mazeika says his latest performance felt even sweeter.
Starting pitcher Marcus Stroman, who received a no-decision in the Mets’ win, also weighed in on Mazeika’s ability to step up in big moments.
“Everyone loves Mazeika in this clubhouse,” said Stroman. “He is a grinder, who puts in the work. It’s pretty incredible what he has been able to do when he is up there in those key situations and we are just going to continue to ride off of it.”
Stroman was excellent on Tuesday evening going 6 1/3 innings, allowing just one run on four hits, while striking out five and issuing two walks. With the bases loaded and one out in the top of the seventh, manager Luis Rojas lifted Stroman, a ground ball pitcher, in favor of lefty Aaron Loup. And unfortunately, Loup gave up a sac-fly, which was charged to Stroman and gave the Orioles the lead.
Setup man Trevor May gave up a run in the eighth, which extended the Orioles’ lead to 2-0.
But the Mets were not dead yet, as they cut the deficit in half on Michael Conforto‘s RBI single in the bottom of the eighth.
The Amazins’ entered the bottom of the ninth inning down 2-1 against Orioles closer César Valdez. And just like they’ve done over the past two weeks of the season, the “Illar” brothers got it going to start the rally.
While Kevin Pillar hit what was thought to be a leadoff game-tying home run off Valdez, the ball was ruled foul and the call was overturned by the umpiring crew. However, Pillar battled back to rip a leadoff single to left.
Next up was the second half of this tandem in spark plug Jonathan Villar, who followed up Pillar’s hit by singling through the right side to setup first and second with no outs.
Although catcher James McCann struck out, Dominic Smith took his first at-bat of the game and delivered with a long single to knock in Pillar and tie the game at two. A poor throw allowed Villar to advance to third, representing the winning run with one out.
This brought up the hero of the night in Mazeika, who fought hard against Valdez before grounding out to first. And although Orioles first baseman Trey Mancini‘s throw was close at the plate, the speedy Villar got a great jump and was able to get his hand in there in time with a head first slide to score the game-winning run.
This triggered deja vu all over again, as the Mets mobbed Mazeika coming around first base, ripping off his jersey for the second time in the last four games.
“For me, it’s fun to watch guys be apart of big wins like this,” said Rojas. “Mazeika is known for taking quality at-bats and that’s what he has done every time he has been up there.”
“Watching him perform out there and take at-bats against closers is very exciting,” said Rojas. “Right now, it is needed since we’ve been using our extra players. I’m so proud.”
The Mets have been hit with the injury bug as of late, and lost two more position players on Tuesday when Jeff McNeil left the game with cramps, and Albert Almora exited after a scary collision with the wall in the center field. Rojas says both players will be reassessed on Wednesday, but he sounded more optimistic about McNeil, who avoided a pulled muscle after being further evaluated.
Despite the injuries, the Mets extended their win streak to six, behind a two-run dramatic comeback and more late game heroics from some unlikely suspects. They are now 8-2 in the month of May.
