Javy Baez let winning baseball do the talking.
The Mets picked up a game where they left off on April 11 against the Marlins, with a runner on first base and one out in the top of the first inning. In that suspended April game, Marcus Stroman had stood atop a muddy slosh of a mound while rain poured all around him.
Following a delay of four months, 19 days, 23 hours and 55 minutes, the Mets’ landscape was quite different. The club was in another mess, after Baez explained and later apologized for his thumbs-down gesture, which was meant to “boo” Mets fans before Sandy Alderson released a stern statement and shut it all down.
The only thing that would truly end the absurd controversy over thumbs would be winning, and Baez played a key role in ensuring Mets fans not only applauded but cheered their lungs out. The Mets came back from a four-run deficit in the ninth inning to record a 6-5 walk-off win over the Marlins on Tuesday at Citi Field.
The Mets (65-67) again beat the Marlins, 3-1, in the seven-inning nightcap. Michael Conforto homered, Jeff McNeil collected an RBI single, and Trevor Williams allowed just one run (unearned) in a solid 4.2-inning start. Edwin Diaz recorded his 27th save. Since the first game on Tuesday counted as an April 11 win, the Mets have won three games in a row dating back to Saturday.
Baez, who became Public Enemy No. 1 on Sunday, redeemed himself 48 hours later in the ninth inning of Tuesday’s win. Representing the winning run with two outs and runners on second and third, Baez lined an infield RBI single to shortstop that scored Dominic Smith and trimmed the Mets’ deficit to 5-4. Baez took in the applause at first base, silent and frozen as the crowd cheered.
In the ensuing at-bat, Conforto erased his 0-for-4 day and sliced an RBI walk-off single to left field that Jorge Alfaro kicked away. Baez, sprinting from second to third, glanced at Alfaro’s mistake and turned on the jets. He slid home, beating the errant throw, and scored the winning run. Mets players mobbed Baez at the plate, Francisco Lindor chief among them, and celebrated the storybook ending.
“We gotta keep winning,” Conforto said. “Winning is all we want. Winning is all the fans want. We’re all pulling in the same direction here. I don’t know what one game does, but I can tell you that the guys wanted to win this game about as badly as any other game we’ve played. In short: Winning cures all.”
It wasn’t all fairy dust and flowers for Baez on Tuesday. In his first appearance since “booing” the fan base, Baez pinch-hit for Jeff McNeil in the eighth and was greeted to an onslaught of fierce and heavy boos from the small Citi Field crowd (just over 8,000 people). The boos and cries of, “You suck!” persisted throughout his at-bat, until he was hit by a pitch. As he walked to first base, the crowd cheered.
It was a good example of exactly what can silence the fans’ boos: getting on base, being productive, and of course, winning.
“A lot could be seen from that final play,” Conforto said of what Baez has brought to the Mets on the field. “The baseball IQ is elite. He’s got the swing, he’s got crazy power, he’s got incredible defense. Great teammate. He came in here and he’s here to win. He’s here to be a big part of this team.”
Thumbs up for wins.
CONFORTO SLAMS THE BAT
After Conforto popped out to first base in the eighth inning, he took out his season-long frustration in the Mets dugout. Conforto slammed his bat and helmet against the bat rack, showing an enraged display of emotion that fans haven’t seen from the Mets right fielder. But a slumping season will do that to Conforto, who is batting .217 through 97 games in his walk year.
Conforto said it was a swing of emotions for him after collecting the game-winning hit in his next at-bat, following his frustration in the dugout.
“I was upset. I was really locked in for that at-bat,” Conforto said of his eighth-inning pop out. “I knew that I was going to get a lot of sliders. I got some decent pitches to hit and I didn’t come through for my teammates in that situation. I was pissed on that one.”
Conforto’s manager, Luis Rojas, and bench coach, Dave Jauss, tried to cheer him up in the dugout following the bat slam.
“Jaussy and Luis, when I came in, they made sure to tell me, ‘You’re going to get another big one,'” Conforto said. “And I ended up getting another big one.”
Whether it was the advice from his coaches, the game-winning hit, or just finally finding his balance at the plate, Conforto seemed to get the monkey off his back for now. The Mets right fielder started a three-run rally in the fourth inning of Game 2 Tuesday with a two-run home run to the right-field upper deck. Conforto’s 10th homer of the season was the best swing we’ve seen from him all year.
NIDO BACK ON THE IL
Tomas Nido was again placed on the injured list Tuesday, retroactive to Aug. 28, due to the same thumb injury that put him on the IL earlier this month. Backup catcher Chance Sisco was recalled, and Patrick Mazeika will again resume starting catcher duties while James McCann (back spasms) recovers.
