Mandatory Credit: D. Ross Cameron-USA TODAY Sports
On the same day the Mets received a tongue-lashing tweet from team owner Steve Cohen, the Amazins’ lived up to their nickname on Wednesday, getting out of Frisco with some desperate dignity.
The digs from Cohen left the uninspired offense dormant until the top of the ninth when J.D. Davis hit a sacrifice fly to even the score 1-1.
Edwin Diaz clearly got the memo in the bottom frame with two first pitch pop ups to hot hitting Brandon Belt and Brandon Crawford, along with a strike three slider to Mike Yastrzemski, sending the game into extras.
In the top of the 10th, with Villar as the gifted base runner on second, Patrick Mazeika bunted into a fielder’s choice. Kevin Pillar flied out Brandon Nimmo kept hope alive with a single to left center, placing Mazeika in scoring position, where he remained after Jeff McNeil’s groundout on an 84 mph slider.
Before the Mets defense made their way onto the field, I immediately fast-forwarded to the bottom of the inning with the Giants successfully executing their second base bounty, and another dismal outcome for what has become, the Keystone boys of Queens.
But Diaz’s encore inning kept Yastrzemski at third with high unhittable heat to Evan Longoria and LaMonte Wade Jr. who popped up and out, respectively.
The 11th brought Giant’s reliever Tyler Chatwood to the mound and Travis Blankenhorn to the plate to hit for Diaz, whose ground out to second put Jeff McNeil on third. Michael Conforto’s at bat began two in the hole, but ended with a one out double to deep right, putting his team on top, 2-1.
Knowing that 2-1 would not hold, I saw in my negative mind, San Francisco go ahead in the bottom of the inning, but thankfully, Jeurys Familia’s 97 mph four-seam fastball to Tommy La Stella proved to be the only damage, a run-scoring single, which set the stage for a 2-2 tie in the upcoming 12th.
Giant’s reliever returned for seconds and immediately struck out Jonathan Villar, swinging. At this point, I will be beside myself if the Mets don’t deliver. No matter what happens the remainder of the season, in this moment, they must win this game.
And as if they heeded my command, Mazeika singled to shallow right center sending Dominic Smith to third, Kevin Pillar launched a 95 mph sinker 393 feet for a go-ahead three-run dinger. McNeil doubled and Chance, the Sisco Kid, doubled the pleasure to deep right sending McNeil across the plate for a four-run lead that held with Jake Reed so fittingly retiring the Giants in order.
With the Mets facing the dreaded Dodgers, I look forward to hopefully more heroics on the heel of Steve Cohen’s inspired tweet.
