There are few things more exciting than a comeback, something the Mets accomplished last night when they turned a 7-1 deficit into an 8-7 win against the Marlins.
The team has had bigger comebacks, which second baseman Neil Walker can speak about because one of them was a seven-run comeback against the Pirates in 2011. In that June 2 game, Walker hit a second inning home run off Mike Pelfrey and finished the game 2-5 with four RBI and a run scored. But the Pirates squandered a 7-0 lead and lost 9-8.
While fans can overreact to big leads overcome or lost, the players move on quickly.
“As players you’re pretty good about turning the page and kind of compartmentalizing day to day ups and downs,” Walker said. “But certainly it’s not a good feeling to feel like you kinda had a game that you had in hand slip away. For our sake we hope it does affect them but we’re not assuming that’s the case.”
Walker’s Pirates didn’t sulk after the 2011 loss which has found a home on Mets Classics, instead winning four of their next five. There was no rah-rah speech by anybody, no wake up call or challenge made. Nothing special needed to be said.
“It’s one of those things that doesn’t happen a lot,” Walker said. “But it’s happened to all of us at some point or another.”
The timing was nice for an exciting win in Queens. It was the first game of the homestand and the team needed something positive in the wake of constant injuries, including Noah Syndergaard’s diagnosis and adding Travis d’Arnaud to the disabled list before Friday’s win.
Although momentum is only as good as the next day’s starting pitcher, as the saying goes, the Now the Mets will try to keep it going. “You just try to do the same that you did when you strung the runs together,” Walker said. “Have good at-bats and take advantage of every situation that you can and keep grinding.”