Eric Hartline-USA TODAY Sports
There are many ways to acknowledge just how remarkable this 11th-hour turnaround a year ago really was. Before the Mets did it at Citizens Bank Park, there were 857 consecutive times that a team trailing by at least six runs entering the ninth had somehow figured out a way to win.
Starling Marte‘s long double off the wall was the punctuation. But this seven-run rally, like all comebacks of similar magnitude, took several Mets (and even a few Phillies) to make it possible.
Francisco Lindor‘s home run after Marte’s leadoff single from made the deficit respectable at 7-3. Pete Alonso‘s double and Jeff McNeil‘s one-out single set up New York in a position to bring it closer. Mark Cahna got the benefit of a liner that bounced off pitcher Corey Knebel and allowed Alonso to score. After a strikeout and the Mets having no margin for error, J.D. Davis doubled to left. McNeil came in and Cahna went to third – setting up the two climactic moments of an inning that had plenty of build-up. Brandon Nimmo delivered the tying two-run single and Marte took the next pitch nearly over the fence, but it was enough to put New York in front.
The previous 330 times the Mets were down by six runs entering their last at-bat they lost. The last time any such revival took place was on Sept. 13, 1997 at Shea Stadium against the Montreal Expos. It was just the third time in team history the Mets recovered from at least six down in the ninth to win, according to Elias Sports Bureau.
Edwin Díaz pitched a scoreless bottom half to secure the victory with the Adonis Medina being the unsung hero. The 25-year-old right-hander allowed one hit and no runs in 2.2 innings of relief and kept the game from getting further out of hand.
Of course, the prologue to any great comeback is a great deficit. The hole was dug early. A Lindor fielding error opened the door for Taijuan Walker to yield four Phillie runs in the first. Walker was tagged for back-to-back homers by Bryce Harper and Nick Castellanos in the fourth to give Philadelphia its 7-0 advantage. That lead appeared very secure with Aaron Nola on the mound, pitching seven innings and allowing three hits.
The only run off him came in the sixth when Marte connected with the bases empty in the sixth. It was a seemingly meaningless home run that did nothing but keep the Mets from being shutout. Little did anyone know what that started.
