Third baseman David Wright had his breakthrough moment during Game 3 of the World Series on Friday night. The Mets captain came through with a clutch two-run shot off the hard-throwing Royals’right-hander Yordano Ventura, to give the Mets an early 2-1 lead.
“I was trying to tell myself to take it nice and easy, because he supplies the power. You throw upper nineties, you’ve just got to try to meet it. I was trying to get my foot down early, get the barrel to the ball, and as you can see, put a good swing on it.”
Wright later drove in two more runs on a hard single in the 6th inning which broke the game wide open and gave the Mets a commanding 8-3 lead.
“I’ve said it before, this is what you dream about as a kid. You’re thinking about playing in a World Series game, and on top of that being able to contribute with a few RBIs and a home run.”
“Running around the bases it’s just like floating. You can’t describe the excitement of hitting the home run, crossing home plate, high-fiving your teammates, and looking up and seeing people going absolutely nuts. It’s one of those memories, at least for me, that will stick with me for the rest of my life.”
Additionally, Wright also made two great defensive plays in the field. He hustled down the left field foul line to spear a hard line drive, holding Salvador Perez to just a single. He also made a great tag on Alex Gordon in the second inning which helped extinguish a Royals rally and kept the score from getting out of hand.
While Wright hasn’t been having a good postseason statistically, the numbers don’t tell the whole story. Almost all of his hits have come in huge spots and were turning points in the game.
Against the Dodgers in Game one of the NLDS, he drove in the game-winning run. He also belted a crucial RBI-double against Jake Arrieta during the NLCS to put the Mets ahead early in the first inning.
Wright told reporters after the game that the energy from the fans last night could not be understated. It was the largest crowd in the history of Citi Field and the team was powered by the booming ovations and the incredible atmosphere the fans provided.
“The home crowd, incredible. Incredible. We knew what to expect coming into this based on playing here throughout the postseason, but this was at a different level, I think. To be able to fight back the way that we did, we were relentless tonight. And it seemed like every time they had an answer, we had an answer right back. And I think that’s the type of baseball that got us here, that immediate answer. Might not be getting all the runs back, but to get the momentum back on our side was big.”
“We were all just jumping up and down, pumped, happy for him, happy for us,” said Michael Cuddyer. “It was a really cool sight, because you know that to these fans, he’s one of them. You know that. And you could see that. And you could feel that. So I think we were able to feed off that energy.”
A very nice game indeed for David Wright who has waited nine years to get back to the postseason. On this night, he was the player of the game.
