The Mets endured an 11-of-12 skid and sat 5½ games behind the Phillies and 1½ games ahead of the Reds for the final NL wild-card slot. Two weeks later the Phillies led by six while the Mets rallied, winning four of five and closing to five games with four remaining against Philadelphia. Brandon Nimmo delivered a bases-loaded, walk-off RBI single off Jhoan Duran after Ryan Helsley surrendered the lead in the eighth. The rally featured Starling Marte and Pete Alonso singles and Brett Baty's bases-loading bloop. Manager Carlos Mendoza emphasized a collective approach of not trying to do too much.
Yet, Nimmo's comments, though unlikely, don't seem quite as farfetched as they once did. And he's a big reason. Nimmo hit a bases-loaded, walk-off RBI single in the ninth off closer Jhoan Duran, as the Mets bounced back from Ryan Helsley's eighth-inning collapse to win, 6-5, at Citi Field. They're now five games back, with four more games against Philadelphia.
And they did it in the communal way: "Not trying to do too much," manager Carlos Mendoza said. Starling Marte and Pete Alonso led off the ninth with singles and, in his first at-bat of the night, Brett Baty blooped a full-count, 102.2-mph fastball the other way to load the bases, in an at-bat Nimmo called "well past his years." Nimmo then lined another heater to left to drive in the winning run. It was his fifth career walk-off RBI.
The Mets had just lost 11 of 12 games when Brandon Nimmo insisted that they "still got a shot" at the division. This was about two weeks ago: The Mets were 51⁄2 games behind the Phillies and a game and a half in front of the Reds for the National League's final wild-card spot and Nimmo's comments seemed optimistic at best, unrealistically idealistic at worst. By the time Tuesday rolled around, the numbers hadn't changed too much.
Collection
[
|
...
]