It started out as “one of those nights”. The Marlins did what the Marlins do, which is to try to drive a stake in our hearts every contending September. They were up 4-0 on the Mets thanks to a two run HR by Bryan de la Cruz and a couple of other runs which acted as side dishes. The Nationals were hanging in against the Braves but you knew that wouldn’t last, right? Jesus Luzardo, meanwhile, was mowing down Mets left and left. Not hitting lefties has been customary for a Mets team lately. Shake hands with a firm grip, always say please and thank you at the dinner table, and don’t hit lefties. It’s Mets Manners.
Eduardo Escobar with a message for Mets fans:
"One day, I'm going to give them the reasons to cheer for me" pic.twitter.com/7NRCEjzXBZ
— SNY (@SNYtv) June 22, 2022
Eduardo Escobar eschewed conventional manners with a two run HR off Luzardo in the 7th to cut the Marlins lead to 4-2. Then in the 8th, Tanner Scott walked the bases loaded but was on the verge of wriggling out of it. But it was Escobar’s turn at the plate, and he told Judith Martin to stick it:
GIVING METS FANS A REASON TO CHEER!
EDUARDO ESCOBAR HAS TIED THIS GAME AT 4-4! pic.twitter.com/nWTakNPttJ
— SNY (@SNYtv) September 29, 2022
From there came the 9th inning (which usually happens after the 8th inning). Tomas Nido slammed a double to center and was pinch run for with Terrance Gore. Brandon Nimmo then worked out a walk to forcing the Marlins to pitch to Pete Alonso with runners on first and second. It was then that I caught wind that the Nationals had kept the Braves from driving in their ghost runner in the top of the 10th, and had a chance to win it in the bottom of the frame. So now I popped the Nationals up on the picture in picture with Pete Alonso’s at-bat on the big screen. Watching pitches go back and forth, and sometimes at the same time.
It was right then that it hit me. This is what a pennant race is all about. It was something that the Mets and their fans haven’t felt for a while, and sometimes when you’re in it, you don’t recoginize that you’re in it. Some people need time to pass and banners to rise before they realize what they’re experiencing. But I was fortunate enough to stop and realize that at any moment, Pete Alonso could hit a game winning homer for the Mets at the precise moment that Cesar Hernandez could single in a run to send the Braves to defeat. It was enough to make me stop and take a breath and realize what a pennant race is all about. Not the dopey discourse on Twitter or the sports talk radio lunatics calling for half the Mets to be DFA’d. No, it was about this moment, at this time. Ninth inning in New York, tenth inning in Washington, DC. Maybe it won’t turn our way. But right then and there, it was a hell of a time for a baseball fan to be alive.
Well it didn’t turn our way initially. Alonso couldn’t resist a slider three feet outside, Lane Thomas grounded out in DC for the second out of the inning after Hernandez walked, and Francisco Lindor popped up to end the 9th and send the game to extra innings. Things looked a little bit bleak at that point. But C.J. Abrams, who came to the Nationals in the Juan Soto trade, singled to right field to score the Braves’ losing run under the soundtrack of Chip Caray’s tears. The Nationals had done us a solid, and it sparked a dance between Ronnie and Gare where the latter mused that the pressure was now off, with the former responding in not so many words: “F**K THAT! GO FOR THE THROAT!!!!” (No FCC employees were awoken in the making of this metaphor.)
Drew Smith pitched the 10th and mixed in plenty of sliders to Marlins hitters, understanding that trying to throw fastballs through his catcher on every pitch might mean that the fastballs might go the other way with increased velocity. It was a masterclass to get the Mets to the bottom of the 10th with the same golden opportunity that the Nationals took advantage of in their game. Mark Canha tried to shoot Ghost Lindor home with a hit to right, but it was a harmless out. Then Dylan Floro was told to give Jeff McNeil a free base to bring up the guy that had driven home the first four Mets runs of the game, and was in the middle of a three month mission to give his fans a reason to cheer him. Would Don Mattingly find his Galaxy Brain with the decision to put the game in the hands of Eduardo Escobar?
Ummm … no.
EDUARDO ESCOBAR OUR HERO!!!!!
THE METS WILL TAKE A 1-GAME DIVISION LEAD TO ATLANTA! pic.twitter.com/TVc54DeyRP
— SNY (@SNYtv) September 29, 2022
That was some sort of nasty cutter that Eduardo hit for the winner to make contact with the Marlins’ proverbial throat and put the Mets up a game going into the biggest regular season series they’ve played since probably 2008. It might even be the biggest regular season series they’ve played on the road since they went into St. Louis and pulled off this beauty:
The Mets would win that series, but unfortunately they needed a sweep to have a real chance at the playoffs in 1985. This time, the Mets are already in the playoffs and won’t need a sweep to take hold of the division. But winning this series, just as they did in St. Louis, puts them on a path to glory. I don’t think there’s a clock to hit at Truist Park but if Escobar wants to take aim at the Chick-Fil-A cow in right center I don’t think anyone would have a real problem with that. You know Eduardo will try, and it’ll be for you.
One of the best postgame interviews you're gonna see 🤣@escobardelapica with our @SteveGelbs on his walk-off, driving in all 5 Mets runs, and heading to Atlanta with a 1-game division lead pic.twitter.com/6KU4O44OHr
— SNY (@SNYtv) September 29, 2022
Arigato, homie. That was fun.
Today’s Hate List
- Kevin Frandsen (yes, again.)
- Bryan de la Cruz
- Jesus Luzardo
- Jackson Stephens
- Matt Olson
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