Entering Tuesday night, the Mets were slated to have David Peterson on the bump against the Miami Marlins. After shoulder fatigue, he was scratched and placed on the injured list.
That left the Mets with Corey Oswalt, who had not made a big league start since September 28, 2018.
But Oswalt gave the Mets 4.1 innings of two-run ball and struck out four batters. At one point, he faced the minimum through 3.1 innings of work.
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"Right after the first batter of the game, (Jonathan) Villar, he went after him, and that's all he did," said manager Luis Rojas. "After that, he was pretty much under control throwing the ball. Mixing his pitches, keeping the ball down, effectively down, he gave us a lot."
Oswalt said he found out he was toeing the rubber once he got to Marlins Park.
"I've been in a situation like this before, so mentally I was just ready to go. My name was called, and just go out there, be ready to compete, give our team a chance to win," Oswalt said.
Rojas was impressed.
"For him to find out late that he was gonna get the start tonight and go out there and do that, it just shows that he was prepared," Rojas said. "He got a late call, and all he did was get ready for the game. All the pregame stuff that he had to do, and then threw the ball really well."
Oswalt said he recently expanded his repertoire, adding a cutter.
"I started working on that last year," Oswalt said. "Any time you can add a pitch ... it's helped me with my fastball, it's helped me with my changeup, being able to add that extra pitch. It's a good weapon, I'm still learning it, still trying to get better with it, but yeah, it's nice to have."
Amed Rosario launched a solo home run in the seventh and drove in two more runs with a single in the eighth inning. He has come around a bit in the Miami series.
"His approach has gotten better. Still chased a few pitches tonight, but better," Rojas said. "Those are really good signs for him that he's seeing the ball better, he's trusting more to what he's committing to.
"I feel like this season's been tough, but I've continued to work. I've kept a positive attitude, but I know with the work that I've been putting in, that the results would eventually show like today."
Rosario's homer went a long 434 feet, which admittedly surprised the shortstop.
"It felt good, honestly," Rosario said. "I was even a little surprised because I'm not a natural pull hitter. So for me to be able to turn on a pitch like that and be able to hit it like that, it showed that all the work I've been putting in, it shows that all the work paid off today."
Brandon Nimmo said that he is feeling much better at the plate after a solo home run and a triple.
"I'm trying to put the ball in play better in early counts when I get the pitch. I was able to do that tonight, so that's a positive move," Nimmo said. "I think that's a positive thing going forward as far as my swing goes.
"Because I'm feeling a little bit better at the plate, I'm able to attack a little bit better early in the counts. Sometimes if you're not feeling good and you just roll over that first pitch fastball ... I feel like I just failed the team on that one."