What can you say about the New York Mets?
After former Mets pitcher Zach Wheeler stymied New York for seven innings of one hit, no run ball, the Philadelphia Phillies removed him from the game after tossing 111 pitchers.
That is when the Mets turned it on. New York came storming back in the top of eight inning, sending nine men to the plate, scoring five runs on five knocks en route to 6-2 victory over the Phillies Saturday in Game One of the best-of-five National League Division Series (NLDS) at Citizens Bank Park.
Was it some type of mojo, magic, or special voodoo power that showed up in the late innings again?
Well, Mets outfielder Brandon Nimmo laughed at that question, and deflected it over to third baseman Mark Vientos.
“I believe in us working hard and the results will happen after,” Vientos said at the press conference. “The game is never over until the 9th. We’ve been running with that mentality the past week.”
New York manager Carlos Mendoza said the key factor to winning the tilt came down to exceptional situational hitting.
“This is something we’ve done throughout the year when we’re clicking as a team offensively,” Carlos Mendoza explained. “We put the ball in play, we used the whole field, and we’re not thinking too big, and we did today again.”
Vientos laced a game-tying single and Nimmo slapped a go-ahead, opposite field base hit for a 2-1 lead. First baseman Pete Alonso belted a sacrifice fly to deep left-center field to extend the Mets’ advantage to 3-1.
J.D. Matinez came off the bench and laced one up the middle to make it 4-1. New York added two more runs to claim a 6-1 lead going into the bottom of the ninth.
After Kodai Sanga permitted one run in two sharp frames, the ball game belonged to the bullpen. A combination of David Peterson, Reid Garrett, Phil Maton and Ryne Stanek showed up and showed out, allowing just one earned run on four hits and four walks while striking out five hitters in seven innings of work.
Both teams will battle it out Sunday at 4:08 p.m. in Game 2 of the NLDS at Citizens Bank Park.
— Jerry Del Priore
NY NJ Sports World/Brooklyn Sports World 