New York Mets manager Carlos Mendoza discusses odd shoe change in ninth
Mets manager Carlos Mendoza describes the broken cleat on closer Edwin Diaz’s shoe that left a hole in the shoe that he didn’t notice immediately.
The Reds loaded the bases with no out in a one-run game but couldn’t score and fell to the Mets.The New York Mets are now concerned with the San Francisco Giants, who are two games ahead of the Reds.
During Brandon Nimmo’s at-bat in the third inning, the New York Mets’ left fielder fouled a pitch off a sensitive part of Cincinnati Reds Tyler Stephenson’s lower body that often goes unnamed in polite company, leaving the strapping catcher needing a moment to catch his breath and regroup.
It didn’t get much better for Stephenson and teammates the rest of the night in a series opener they needed to win Sept. 5 but instead lost 5-4 in a south-of-the-gut-punch game that sent them gasping for air in a playoff race that has all but eliminated them with 21 games left.
This was a must-sweep series for the reeling Reds, who have now lost 11 of 14 and who are one loss in the next two days from losing a season-high five series in a row.
The series opener – when the Reds loaded the bases in the ninth with nobody out and came away empty – was the dagger that put an end to the Reds’ last, best hope of catching the playoff field.
“It’s huge. We obviously know where they’re at,” Mets starter David Peterson (9-5) said.
The Mets stopped just short of planting their flag on the Reds’ expiring playoff hopes. But they’re six games ahead of the Reds for the National League’s final playoff spot and well aware that they might be within a day or two of sticking a fork in the team that got within a half-game of them just two weeks ago.
Even the surging San Francisco Giants have become a bigger threat to the Mets at this point, moving two games ahead of the Reds in the race after beating the Cardinals.
A chance to put the Reds in the rear-view for good this weekend?
“I mean, I’d like to think so,” Mets center fielder Jeff McNeil said. “But it’s baseball. We’ve still got to take care of business and play every game like we need to win.”
Because of course, they do. The Mets still have NL East-leading Philadelphia and wild-card positioned San Diego and the Chicago Cubs on their remaining schedule as they not only jockey for playoff seeding but also try to avert disaster these final three weeks.
“We still have a lot of games left. The mentality is to win as many games as we can,” Mets shortstop Francisco Lindor said. “At the end of the day everybody we’ll be playing the rest of the year is competing except the Nationals and Miami. So we’ve just got to win games.
“Everything matters,” Lindor added. “They went to our place (in July). They swept us. We’ve got to take care of business.”
Actually, the Reds won two of three at Citi Field. But the sentiment is clear.
“It doesn’t matter if we’re facing them or somebody else. We’re just going to try our best to take the series and try to go all the way,” Mets right fielder Juan Soto said.
“This is the right time, the right moment, to get hot and come through as a team.”
They pounced for three quick runs in this one in the first inning and never looked back.
“Lately, we’ve been doing a really good job jumping on teams to send a message and put a statement to start the game and go from there,” Soto said.
The win over the Reds “helps big time” toward what the Mets are trying to do, Soto said.
“But we’re trying to focus on the trophy,” he said. “What we’re trying to accomplish is not only trying to get in. We’re trying to win this whole thing.”
The Mets got close enough to almost touch it last year, losing to eventual-champion Los Angeles in the National League Championship Series in six games. Soto, in his final season with the Yankees, made it a step further and faced the Dodgers in the World Series.
As for the Reds, it’s pretty much about playing for pride over these final 21 games after what might have been the toughest loss of the season for what was at stake and who was on the winning end.
Maybe they can finish with a winning record. Finish strong. Set the stage for a next step next year.
Maybe they’ll catch their breath by then after Friday’s shot to their collective, well, lower body.