Mets steal one on the Road, Drop Game Two… Onto Queens
Mets 3B Mark Vientos, via Charles Wenzelberg
If you are a Mets fan, you can’t be too mad. The Mets stole game one in poetic fashion. They went down early in game one due to a Kyle Schwarber home run and an early Phillies rally, but it was all okay. The Mets, like they have all postseason, came back late in the game and won it at the end. They won 6-2 and made a statement with that comeback that this isn’t the same old Mets gonna Met team. Going into game two, the momentum was high, and they got scoring quickly. 3B Mark Vientos is starting to heat up as he smashed a 2-run blast to give the Mets the lead, 2-0. 1B Pete Alonso felt left out and shot a solo homer in the following inning, 3-0. However, you can’t shut down the Turner-Harper-Castellanos trio for a whole game, and you can only hope to contain them, and the Mets were unable to. Harper shot a two-run blast, and Castellanos one-upped him with a solo blast to tie the game up, 3-3. Mets OF Brandon Nimmo said we could play that game and brought the lead back with a laser home run, 4-3. It was a back-and-forth game; felt like the Yankees-Royals game from the day prior. In the following inning, the Phillies capitalize on the Mets’ 3B Mark Vientos fielding mistake and score three runs to take a two-run lead, 6-4. 3B Mark Vientos was given an opportunity to redeem himself in the following inning as SS Francisco Lindor got on base; Vientos hit a 2-run dinger to tie it up, 6-6. However, the relief pitching could not hold it down as closer Edwin Diaz didn’t have his best stuff today and was taken out of the game. The Phillies would walk it off with an OF Nick Castellanos RBI single to win it.
It was a disappointing loss, no question, but they stole one from the Phillies in Philadelphia. Now they’ll return to Queens today, and if they win both games at home, the Mets will find themselves in the NLCS for the first time since 2015. The Mets will trot out Sean Manaea, who faced the Phillies three times this season; he combined for 16.2 IP, 5.40 ERA, 15 Ks, 14 H, and 2 BB. The Mets lost in two games; he was credited with a 1-1 record. The Phillies will trot out their longtime pitcher, Aaron Nola. He faced the Mets twice this season and combined for 13.1 IP, 4.05 ERA, 15 Ks, 10 H, and 2 BB with a 1-1 record. It seems like a good matchup. Nola could be shaky postseason, but it depends on whether he has his best stuff. The Mets are showing heart and showing grit. This team plays strong and doesn’t give up when put at a disadvantage. The team is almost at full potential. These next two games will decide the series and finish it in Queens.
Game Three is next.
