After 295 major league games and 1,069 at-bats, Jeff McNeil did something he’d never done in the big leagues on Wednesday afternoon.
He hit a walk-off.
It was a single up the middle in the eighth inning off of Milwaukee’s Brett Suter, which drove in Francisco Lindor and Dom Smith and gave the Mets a 4-3 win in Game 1 of their doubleheader against the Brewers.
“Never had a walk-off hit,” he said. “So, that was a lot of fun. It was fun celebrating with the boys.”
His approach that at-bat was simple: Tie the game, then worry about the win.
“I wanna get the tying run in right there,” he said. “Put together a good at bat, get a pitch to hit. I was able to do that. I’m up trying to hit something to the outfield, get that one run in. The second one’s a bonus.”
McNeil’s had a tough go of it since returning from the IL on June 21. In parts of 16 games entering today’s action, he’s slashing .224/.296/.224 with no home runs, no extra-base hits and an uncharacteristic OPS of only .521.
On Wednesday, he went 2-for-4 with the hit that completed the comeback win.
“I think I’m swinging the bat a lot better the last week or so,” he said. “As for the monkey off my back, that was huge.”
In the bigger picture, it was another win the Mets had little business getting. The only reason McNeil was able to win the game was because of Jose Peraza’s game-tying home run in the seventh off Brewers closer Josh Hader, who entered the game with no homers allowed in 2021.
“This team is never out of it,” McNeil said. “We’re always a swing away. ... It’s a great clubhouse. We’re always in every game."