Yoenis Cespedes set Citi Field on fire with a walk off homerun in the bottom of the 10th to bring the New York Mets even with the slumping Miami Marlins in the Wild Card standings, just 2.5 games behind the front-running St. Louis Cardinals.
Returning to the line-up after missing Sunday’s painful loss, Cespedes and his questionable quad gave the Mets a much needed 2-1 win, proving that a trip back to the playoffs will not be feasible without him.
“Every time I see Cespedes at home plate, I feel like he’s going to hit a homer,” said teammate Jose Reyes. “That’s the way that I feel in the dugout. I’m sure the other guys feel the same way. …It’s unbelievable what he can do on the baseball field. Basically he can do whatever he wants to when he wants to. It’s good to see. We’re going to need him.”
Rafael Montero, filling in for the roughed up and in need of rest Jacob deGrom, made the most of his starting role, in light of the career high six walks he surrendered.
Making his first start since April 28, 2015, Montero lasted five erratic innings of 100 pitch ball, allowing just two hits, striking out three, but more importantly no runs, keeping pace with Marlins ace Jose Fernandez who entered with a 3-0, 1.54 ERA in his seven previous starts against the Mets.
Fernandez also struggled with his control, giving up 3 hits, walking 4 (one intentional) giving NY numerous opportunities to score with multiple runners on base. And with failed attempts by Curtis Granderson, James Loney, and Wilmer Flores, it appeared that this was not going to be a happy ending for the home team.
But Montero got some help out of his own hot water, after loading the bases in the 4th with a hit and a couple of walks, Kelly Johnson made a clutch grab of Fernandez’s sharp grounder to third for the final out of the inning.
Jerry Blevins and Sean Gilmartin kept the Marlins out of the run scoring business in relief of Montero, then handed the reins to Addison Reed in the top of the 8th.
After Reed recorded the first two outs, he couldn’t escape a single turned into a double by the still speedy 42-year old Ichiro Suzuki, who one batter later broke the scoreless tie, on Xavier Scruggs double to left.
The the other key to victory, team catalyst Jose Reyes, responded in the bottom of the inning with a lead off hit to right that ironically became a double on a ball that scooted by a sliding Suzuki. After Alejandro De Aza’s fly ball to left brought Reyes to third, a wild pitch by A.J. Ramos sent a head first diving Reyes to the plate with the tying and jarring run as the Mets shortstop was flattened in a violent collision. He would emerge unscathed.
And how about the recently added lefty Josh Smoker? He was smoking in the top of the 10th, retiring the side in order, paving the way for Cespedes’ heroic game winning blast.
It may not have looked pretty at the onset, with Jay Bruce, Neil Walker and Asdrubal Cabrera all on the sidelines, a Double-A call-up making an emergency start, and the daunting task of facing Jose Fernandez, but the Mets persevered and came away with a signature statement victory in the opening act of a critical four-game series with the Fish.
“He’s that kind of player,” Terry Collins said Cespedes after the game. “You expect big things each and every time he goes up. He’s one of those guys people pay to see him play. They see him come up to bat and they know he can do something dangerous each and every time up. He’s a special guy. That’s why to keep him healthy is priority No. 1 at this moment.” (ESPN)
So in what has become an all too familiar script, Yoenis Cespedes carried the team to a huge win and sees his offseason price tag continue to soar like one of his majestic long balls.
(Photos: USA Today Sports Images, New York Mets)
