Mets drop opener against Dodgers but show competitiveness, resilience and grit

The first of 13 games that the New York Mets will have to play against the Los Angeles Dodgers and the San Francisco Giants didn’t go well, as they lost 6-5 in ten innings against the reigning World Champions. There were signs, however, that tell the story of a resilient team that refuses to give up, and that’s a plus given the ugly second-half slide that saw the Mets lose the first place in the NL East division.

The Mets actually came back from a four-run deficit in the seventh inning of Friday’s game against the Dodgers. The atmosphere at Citi Field was incredible when Pete Alonso tied the game on a wild pitch by Blake Treinen.

“(I’m) always proud of the guys, every single one of them. Almost the entire team was used today,” Mets manager Luis Rojas said to SNY after the game. “Falling down 4-0 against this unbelievable Dodgers team and just being resilient. They’ve done that a bunch of times this year, but it was nice to do it with the fans that we had here tonight. I thought the guys were energized by the momentum we had in that 4-run inning, with the fans getting involved in the inning.

“Good to see guys come into the game being ready for a clutch situation to drive in a run, and different things that happened throughout the game. I’m proud of them. This is who we’ve been the entire season, and to show it against a team like this, it shows that we don’t shy away. We do it the same way all the time.”

The Mets need to translate that approach to wins

The Mets know that they will have to translate that energy, passion, and resilience to the rest of the 12 remaining games against the top two teams in the National League.

“Every game is gonna be high-energy, real tough,” McNeil said. “(The) Dodgers are a good team. We know those next 13 games are going to be extremely tough, (we’re) gonna play a couple really good teams. We’re going to battle and hopefully we can have a nice little stretch here.”

As of Saturday afternoon, the Mets are third in the NL East with a 59-56 record, just 0.5 games behind the Atlanta Braves and the Philadelphia Phillies.