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Trailing the Rays 2-0 in the bottom of the seventh, the Mets’ offense again struggled to show signs of life. They had hit just four singles on the night and had eight outs left to mount a comeback against the best team in baseball. Then Mark Vientos stepped up to the plate. With a runner on first base, Vientos hit a game-tying, two-run home run to tie the game.

Two innings later, the Mets trailed 5-2. The first two runners of the ninth inning reached base to give the team a chance to tie the game, but the next two batters were retired to bring the Mets to their final out. Then Francisco Álvarez stepped up to the plate. The Mets’ catcher launched a hanging slider off the facing of the second deck to get the Mets even again and send the game to extra innings.

When all was said and done, it was a 10th inning walk-off, three-run homer by Pete Alonso that would be the difference in the Mets’ 8-7 victory. But the league’s leading home run hitter would not have had the chance to be the hero if not for the Mets’ young guns stepping up.

Just one day after Brett Baty homered to break the Mets’ 56-inning home run drought, the other two rookies in the lineup came through with clutch home runs to give the team their biggest win of 2023.

The Mets had one of the league’s best offenses in 2022 despite having middle-of-the-pack home run totals. Things have not come as easy for the Mets in 2023, but the kids have the potential to add some much-needed power to the lineup.

Álvarez, the Mets’ top prospect before graduating from prospect status, was a consensus top-10 prospect in the game due to his power at the plate, with MLB Pipeline ranking him as the top prospect in all of baseball last July. His ninth-inning home run on Wednesday night was his fourth of the season. In just 78 at-bats, he has surpassed the home run totals of both Mets catchers in 2022.

Baty, the Mets’ current top prospect and the newest member of MLB Pipeline’s top ten prospects thanks to Álvarez’s promotion, has always been a more well-rounded hitter. Still, he found his power stroke after starting the season in Triple-A Syracuse. He hit a career-high 19 home runs over two minor league levels in 2022, but started 2023 by hitting .400/.500/1.386 with five homers in just nine games before being called up to the majors. Since being recalled, Baty has added three more homers in his first 25 games of the year.

While Álvarez and Baty were viewed as blue-chip prospects, Vientos was not considered to be in that class. Vientos, the Mets’ no. 7 prospect, was not on MLB Pipeline’s top 100 prospect list, but his breakout over the last three seasons has forced the Mets’ hand. The 2017 second-round pick hit 49 home runs over 184 games in the minor leagues in 2021 and 2022, and he hit 13 more home runs in just 38 games in Syracuse before being called up for to the majors on Wednesday.

The trio has played together throughout their tenures in the minor leagues. Having all three of them in the majors with the comradery that they have built together could help get the most out of each of them.

“We give each other confidence,” Vientos said when asked about his belief in the trio’s ability to make an impact in the majors. “We grew up through the system with each other. We’re basically brothers. It gives us the confidence that we go out there and we can do our thing.”

Wednesday’s comeback win was a perfect example of what the young hitters can add to this lineup. Not only does their power give the offense a weapon they did not have in 2022, but the youthful exuberance shown by Vientos and Álvarez as they rounded the bases on Wednesday, along with the power, could be the spark the team needs to turn their season around.