NEW YORK — In a play that captured so much of the charm of the New York Mets’ season so far, a throw from catcher Francisco Alvarez hit third base, preventing the tying run from scoring in the ninth inning. Naturally, closer Edwin Díaz promptly recorded the final out to seal the Mets’ 2-1 win over the Philadelphia Phillies on Sunday night. Instead of the Phillies celebrating a division title in the Mets’ home, New York firmly enhanced its own playoff position.
After taking three out of four from the Phillies, the Mets can clinch a playoff berth by winning the three-game series against the Atlanta Braves. The Mets flew to Atlanta on Sunday night for the series, which begins Tuesday. New York (87-69) shares the same record as the Arizona Diamondbacks. The Braves are two games behind them for a playoff spot. There are six games left.
Here are five takeaways as the Mets head into the final week of the season.
This time, Mets have shown right personality
Pete Alonso made a good point before Sunday’s game.
“People are going to think of the 2024 Mets as ‘OMG’ or Grimace,” Alonso said, “but the one word for me that comes to mind is resilient.”
That characteristic is a difference from the Mets’ recent runs, notably in 2022 when they blew their lead in Atlanta and ended up as a wild-card team that exited early. As Alonso also mentioned, the Mets failed to handle tasks in 2022 leading up to that final series when Atlanta swept them. Earlier that September, they dropped a couple of series to non-playoff teams.
This year’s group has demonstrated different traits while passing previous tests such as long trips against contenders, trap games and big series.
The other key difference between this year’s team and ones from previous years is the Mets’ ability to bounce back. They started 0-5. They were as bad as 11 games below .500. They’ve also had tough losses in the second half. After challenges, they got it together through communication, accountability and, ultimately, crisper play.
At a high level, the Mets have blended confidence and focus. Publicly, they’ve never said they were all that surprised by their turnaround, and they’ve never looked too far ahead.
“It’s a beautiful thing, right?” outfielder Brandon Nimmo said. “But we worked really hard to get into this position. But the job is not done. There’s just as much pressure in the next game as there was on this one. You have to trust the work we’ve put in, the team that has gotten us to this point.”
Francisco Lindor remains hopeful, but he’s not guaranteeing a return
When asked directly whether he’s 100 percent confident he would return from a back injury that has held him out of the last seven games, Francisco Lindor said he was optimistic.
Back issues are notoriously tricky. Already, Lindor has missed the original timetable he offered of a return within two to five days. Lindor said it was hard to answer whether he’d be available to play Tuesday, adding he’d have to see how he feels Monday first then pass a checklist from the training staff.
If Lindor does return, it won’t be without pain.
“If I play this year, I don’t think it’s going to be pain free, and I’m OK with that,” Lindor said. “I just don’t want it to be a constant pain where I can’t bend over. Then I put my teammates in a position where I’m not helping them as much as I can. That’s not fair for anybody. For me, it’s to be in a position where if it’s going to hurt, it’s going to come and go.”
Lindor described his work Sunday as “another slow step in the right direction.” He again took batting practice and fielded groundballs. He said his back doesn’t hurt when he’s throwing, which is an improvement from last week. But keep in mind: Lindor mentioned he had to roll out of bed last week. It sounded like he completed what he set out to do Sunday and that the threshold met his expectations. He has yet to face live pitching.
“We’d love to have him back,” Nimmo said, “but we want him back as himself, not pushing too soon or anything; there is a bigger picture in store.”
As expected, Alonso received a proper acknowledgment
At 7:33 p.m., just before Alonso’s first plate appearance, the sold-out crowd gave him a standing ovation while cheering his name. The Mets’ slugging first baseman, a homegrown star, tipped his cap. At that moment, he said he thought to himself, “Wow, this is like a movie.”
Thing is, Alonso isn’t ready for the credits to appear. Alonso, manager Carlos Mendoza and others have maintained they expect more home games in 2024. To do that, though, the Mets must make the playoffs and then win a wild-card series. So it was only right for the home crowd to acknowledge him — they chanted his name before and during every plate appearance, but he went 0-for-4 with three strikeouts — during the final home game of the regular season since he will be a free agent once the World Series ends.
“It’s right out of a storybook,” Alonso said.
SIX OUTS FROM SUGAR 🔥🎺 pic.twitter.com/bZg81GIGif
— New York Mets (@Mets) September 23, 2024
Díaz looked ready for ‘big-boy time’
Mendoza acted with caution, protecting Díaz all season from too much work. Now, it’s time to act aggressively. For the first time since August 2022, Díaz recorded a six-out save.
“Now it’s big-boy time,” Mendoza said. “And he’s our guy.”
With the Mets holding a 2-1 lead and the top of the Phillies’ potent lineup coming up, Mendoza inserted Díaz in the eighth inning. Díaz answered the calling, retiring Kyle Schwarber, Trea Turner and Bryce Harper on 12 pitches. Despite recording four outs and throwing 17 pitches the day before, Díaz averaged 98.7 mph with his fastball during the eighth inning.
As soon as the inning ended, Mendoza checked with Diaz to make sure he was OK with going another. Díaz was up for it. Mendoza said he was going to keep things short with Díaz in the ninth; he had right-hander Ryne Stanek warming. Díaz ended up needing 18 pitches in the ninth, putting his total for the night at 30.
Though Mendoza expressed some caution about whether Díaz would be available Tuesday, the right-hander expressed a willingness to again be ready if needed.
“This is our playoff game,” Díaz said. “We’ve been playing playoff games since early September. I gotta be ready every single day, and I know that I will be ready on Tuesday.”
Nimmo stepped up at the right time
From the start of the second half of the season through Sept. 15 — 49 games — Nimmo hit three home runs.
Then a critical, final regular-season homestand started.
Over his last five games, Nimmo has hit three home runs. His solo home run off Zack Wheeler in the sixth inning provided the final margin. Without Lindor, the Mets have received offensive contributions from a host of other players ranging from outfielder Tyrone Taylor (RBI-single Sunday) to rookie shortstop Luisangel Acuña to Alvarez. Nimmo had been mired in a deep slump before busting out at just the right time.
“Experience helps,” Nimmo said. “Being in the situations before, having the experience to lean on, and trial and error from other ways of trying to get it done and it not working. I don’t really have words for the guys who are so young who eat up those situations and come through right away, because it’s a hard thing to do. Just trying to make things simple has helped me to help the team.”
(Photo of Pete Alonso: Jim McIsaac / Getty Images)
