The New York Mets had just a three percent win probability but managed to pull off a comeback for the ages against the Washington Nationals. Citi Field was electric throughout the night and the walk off victory completely blew the roof off the building.
The Mets are ROLLING!
They are now even with the Brewers for the 2nd wild-card spot ? pic.twitter.com/EDIMEGeVCc
— SportsCenter (@SportsCenter) August 10, 2019
Friday night had a postseason atmosphere from the second you parked your car to walking through the exits into the pandemonium in Flushing.
The Ups and The Downs
They went down 3-0 in the fourth after Marcus Stroman cruised through the first three innings. Immediately the Mets responded with back to back home runs by Pete Alonso and J.D. Davis.
Baseballs have nightmares of Pete Alonso ?
(via @MLB)pic.twitter.com/pixIXC5KRS
— B/R Walk-Off (@BRWalkoff) August 10, 2019
Those back to back homers brings back memories of Curtis Granderson and Daniel Muphy against Jordan Zimmerman in 2015. Stroman battled all night for the Mets, especially during the top of the sixth. He went six plus innings and allowed four runs in his Citi Field debut.
The Nats had a runner at third with no outs in the top of the sixth and there was a feeling there was no way to keep them from scoring. Thanks to Amed Rosario’s leaping catch and the chance to face the pitcher, they got out of it. Stroman came storming off the mound yelling “Lets F***ing Go!” after striking out Stephen Strasburg to end the sixth.
Late Inning Heroics
Anthony Rendon hit his 21st career home run against the Mets to continue his butchering of the Mets. It gave the Nationals a two run lead and sucked the air out of the building through the rest of the seventh. Trea Turner stole a run in the eighth on a wild pitch that Wilson Ramos and Luis Avilan were too lackadaisical to pick up quickly.
Do you believe in miracles? The Nationals had a 97.3% chance of winning after Trea Turner scored on a wild pitch in the top of the 9th.
The rest is history… pic.twitter.com/0gK345LqD3
— ? ? (@thatmetschick) August 10, 2019
The Mets had opportunities to even the game in both the seventh and eighth. Fans who started to leave early thought the Mets were finally coming back down to Earth. Those fans were in the small minority as the the fans who left their seats walked around the stadium just incase a miracle occurred.
The Ninth Inning
The stadium would have emptied out after the wild pitch during June and early July, but these new look Mets have instilled hope back in their fans. The Mets had Sean Doolittle’s number earlier in the season and they had the middle of their order up. With Davis, Wilson Ramos and Todd Frazier up there was hope they could comeback, especailly if the first two men got on.
Sorry, you were saying? https://t.co/8CNC33w0Ks
— New York Mets (@Mets) August 10, 2019
No one could have predicted this magical comeback tonight. Of course, anyone who watched five minutes of ESPN, MLB Network or scrolled through social media knows the ending. Frazier wraps one around the Chick-Fil-A sponsored foul pole in left field then Michael Conforto one hops a shot off the right field fence.
What Is Next?
Due to every wild card contender except the Nationals winning, the Mets only gained a game on the Nats. They have two more against the the Nationals with Noah Syndergaard and Jacob deGrom on the mound. Winning both would put the Mets in the top wild card spot heading into a three game series against the NL East leading Atlanta Braves.
The Mets have taken 14 out of their last 15 and erased half a season of disappointment. With still a month and a half to play the Mets line themselves up to play meaningful baseball for the remainder of the year.