Monday afternoon’s outing against the Braves didn’t quite start as planned for Edwin Diaz.
After Mets setup man Phil Maton hit a batter and gave up a bloop single to bring the tying run to the plate with just one out in the bottom of the eighth, Carlos Mendoza decided to turn to his closer for a five-out save.
Diaz got the first out easily and he appeared to be out of the inning when Pete Alonso made a great diving stop on a Jared Kelenic grounder, but the righty forgot to cover first base, bringing in a run and keeping the rally alive.
Then after Michael Harris walked on four pitches to load the bases again, Ozzie Albies made Diaz’s mistake hurt, as he crushed a bases-clearing double to put the Braves right back in front heading to the ninth.
But down to their final three outs the Mets’ offense backed up their closer, as shortstop Francisco Lindor put together another MVP moment, crushing a two-run homer to give them back the lead.
Mendoza was just about set to turn things over to Ryne Stanek for the bottom of the ninth, but after Lindor’s massive homer, Diaz went to the skipper and pleaded his way back into the game.
“It was tough, I came in in the eighth and they battled,” he said. “But after I saw the homer from Lindor I told Mendy that I’m going back no matter what. I told him I don’t care what you say, I’m going back out and getting this win for the team. He fought me on it a little bit, but I told him I got this s--t, that’s exactly how I said it to him.”
And Diaz certainly did, as he eventually got former Met Travis d’Arnaud to ground out to Lindor, locking up the thrilling come-from-behind victory and securing the Mets’ spot in the postseason.
“Being able to get the last out for us to make the playoffs was big,” he said. “In May we were playing maybe the worst baseball in the league and we came back from that. We battled all season and that paid off, we made the playoffs and now we just have to go out and compete and see if we can make the World Series.”