PHILADELPHIA – Mark Vientos and Brandon Nimmo keyed another late New York comeback, helping the Mets break through for five runs in the eighth inning against a pair of All-Star relievers as they rallied past the Philadelphia Phillies 6-2 on Saturday in Game 1 of their National League Division Series.
“It puts pressure on the other side right away,” Nimmo said.
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The Mets had been stymied by Phillies ace Zack Wheeler, held to just one hit while trailing 1-0 after seven innings.
With Wheeler lifted after nine strikeouts and a startling 30 swings-and-misses over 111 pitches, the Mets — whose whirlwind week included a victory in a makeup doubleheader at Atlanta to clinch a postseason spot and three games in the Wild Card Series at Milwaukee — pounced against losing pitcher Jeff Hoffman and fellow reliever Matt Strahm in the eighth.
In true New York fashion this October, the Mets had to rally, not just on the scoreboard, but with a gut-check in each critical at-bat.
Francisco Alvarez hit a leadoff single against Hoffman before three straight batters reached base after facing 0-2 counts. Francisco Lindor worked a walk and Vientos followed with a tying single. Nimmo laced a go-ahead single off Strahm past a drawn-in infield for a 2-1 lead.
Pinch-hitter J.D. Martinez added an RBI single and Pete Alonso, who hit a go-ahead, three-run homer in the ninth inning of the series clincher in Milwaukee, and Starling Marte each added a sacrifice fly in the eighth for a 5-1 lead that sent the Mets into a frenzy in the dugout.
Nimmo added an RBI single in the ninth. All eight of New York's hits — seven in the final two innings — were singles.
After the last out, New York fans crowded the rows behind their dugout and chanted “Let’s Go Mets! Let’s Go Mets!”
Leave it to the Mets to win this one late — they've scored 18 runs in the eighth and ninth innings over six games since Monday. New York joined the 1980 Phillies and 1999 Mets as the only teams to win consecutive playoff games after trailing in the eighth inning or later.
“One of the things we’ve talked about is just finishing the game all the way to the ninth inning,” Vientos said. “And the game is never over until the ninth. We’ve kind of been running with that mentality, I feel like the past week in Atlanta. Then the last game in Milwaukee we kind of showed that and it’s giving us more confidence for that.”
The Phillies were left reeling headed into Sunday’s Game 2 after they wasted Wheeler's splendid outing.
Citizens Bank Park, once home to Red October, has turned into a nightmare the last two seasons. The Phillies held a 3-2 series lead last season in the NLCS but lost Games 6 and 7 to Arizona at home.
Kyle Schwarber launched Kodai Senga's third pitch into the second deck in right field, extending his playoff record for leadoff homers to five.
At 425 feet, the homer — a Schwarbomb, as his homers are affectionately called in Philly — went about as far as the rest of the hits combined by an anemic offense.
Bryce Harper, Trea Turner, Nick Castellanos and the rest of a homer-happy offense failed to tack on against Senga and four Mets relievers.
Senga was a surprise starter for New York after throwing just 5 1/3 major league innings all season because of shoulder and calf injuries. He lasted two innings in his second start of the year, throwing 31 pitches. The right-hander struck out three and walked one; Schwarber’s homer was the only hit he allowed.
David Peterson, who earned his first career save in the Wild Card Series clincher against Milwaukee, kept the Mets in the game with three innings of shutout relief. Reed Garrett tossed two perfect innings for the win.
“Our bullpen, I don’t know if they’ve gotten enough credit over the last few games,” Nimmo said. “We wouldn’t be in that situation if big old Peterson doesn’t come in, do his thing. Unbelievable. He just closed the game in Milwaukee and now he’s coming in to throw multiple innings for us. Something he’s never been asked to do. He just comes in and does it perfectly.”
The Mets were thrilled just to have Friday off after a wild week that included a doubleheader Monday in Atlanta and then three pressure-packed games in Milwaukee.
“It was much needed,” manager Carlos Mendoza said. “Intense games, the traveling, the back-and-forth, doubleheader, celebrations, and just everything that we went through. So being able to get here and have kind of like a reset day for everyone was really good.”
The reset came from — no, not from a playoff pumpkin — but a pitching staff that struck out eight and muted Phillies fans who had spun their red rally towels like helicopter rotor blades from the moment they snagged them at the gate.
“We’ve got to do little things, and big things will happen; move runners, get on base,” Phillies manager Rob Thomson said. “We had nine or 10 baserunners. That’s not going to score many runs.”
UP NEXT
The Mets send RHP Luis Severino to the mound in Game 2. He won Game 1 of the Wild Card Series in Milwaukee. Severino allowed eight hits and four runs — three earned — in six innings.
The Phillies have All-Star and new dad Cristopher Sánchez on the mound for Game 2.
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AP MLB: https://apnews.com/hub/MLB