The Mets were in the midst of their 2015 run to National League East on September 7, 2015, which happened to be Labor Day, as it is this year.
The Mets were coming off a walk-off loss in Miami the day before, when Tyler Clippard allowed a 10th inning sacrifice fly to Martin Prado, scoring J.T. Realmuto with the winning run. As the Mets boarded the plan for Washington DC, they held a four-game lead over the Nationals. Mets fans knew this was make-or-break time.
A Nationals’ sweep of the three-game series would cut the Mets’ lead to one game, with four weeks to go in the season. Beating the Nationals on this day would be no small feat, as they were sending Max Scherzer to the mound to take on Jon Niese.
The day started out well for the Mets, as Michael Conforto and Kelly Johnson homered in the top of the second inning to give the Mets a quick 2-0 lead. The Mets would expand their lead to 3-0 in the top of the fourth inning, on a solo home run from Yoenis Cespedes.
Niese was pitching effectively, allowing two hits and and two walks over the first three innings, but keeping the Nationals off the scoreboard. When the game moved to the bottom of the fourth inning, Niese’s effectiveness did not last. Ryan Zimmerman led off with a single and Yunel Escobar followed with a single of his own. After walking Ian Desmond, Niese took on Wilson Ramos with the bases loaded and no outs.
Ramos took Niese out of the yard for a grand slam, and a 4-3 Washington lead. Niese stayed in the game, and later in the inning, allowed a run-scoring double to Jayson Werth. Niese was done after 3 2/3 innings, and the Mets were now trailing 5-3, with all the momentum sitting in the Washington dugout.
The Mets immediately began to chip away. In the top of the fifth, Curtis Granderson doubled to score Ruben Tejada. Carlos Torres held the Nats scoreless in the bottom of the fifth, Erik Goeddel and Dario Alvarez would do the same in the bottom of the sixth, setting the stage for the Mets’ half of the seventh inning.
Wilmer Flores led off with a single. After a failed bunt by Ruben Tejada that forced Flores at second base, Granderson walked. With runners on first and second, David Wright (having returned from the injured list just two weeks prior after over four months away from the team) tied the game with a base hit. Yoenis Cespedes was up next, and he doubled in the right-center field gap, scoring Granderson and Wright. Wright’s emotional crossing of the plate below is etched in the memory of many Mets fans.
The Mets’ bullpen would shut the Nationals out over their final three at-bats. Washington had no hits and just one walk in their last three trips to the plate. Jeurys Familia would record the save, striking out the side in the ninth inning.
The next two nights in Washington produced two more New York comeback wins, with key home runs by Kelly Johnson, Kirk Nieuwenhuis, and Cespedes.
As the Mets take the field on Labor Day, 2020, they find themselves playing another important game as part of an important stretch run. The circumstances are different, of course. The Mets are trying to remain relevant in a playoff race unlike any other in MLB history, due to COVID-19’s impact on the season.
But the Mets, no matter how they’ve gotten here, are playing meaningful September baseball.
Let’s hope they can tap into some of that 2015 magic.
