The final line was almost freaky. Nine runs on 11 hits the Mets had on the 18th anniversary of 9/11.
It was almost a divine win.
Or maybe it was the game plan all along.
“Absolutely,” said manager Mickey Callaway with a sly smile and who could blame him, his Mets finally had a laugher because those nine runs were backed up by a big zero from the Diamondbacks.
“It was real big,” Callaway added. “We needed it.”
With 17 games left, the Mets probably won’t get too many more of these laughers. The bullpen will take care of that, but they are still in the thick of this. With this win, the Mets vaulted over the D-Backs and tied the Phillies. They still remain two games behind Milwaukee, who can tie the Cubs for the second spot tonight with a San Diego win.
Got that? Good.
The Mets will go for the sweep tomorrow and Callaway was able to rest a few of the regulars for a few innings, including Pete Alonso, who bought 9/11 cleats for the whole team today and with a 1:10 start, the Mets will hope Marcus Stroman returns to form and the Mets will leave the snakes for dead.
Sure, this weekend will be tough with the Dodgers coming in. If the Mets can somehow win that series, the 10 games after that are against the Rockies, Reds, and Marlins. So yeah, the Mets have a chance before going into the final weekend against the Braves.
But back to today and the 9-0 win. With both Robinson Cano and Michael Conforto on the bench against lefty Robbie Ray, the Amazin’s were able to chase the D-Backs starter in the first. Steven Matz went six innings of scoreless ball and even survived a few scares along the way.
This team made it look easy and gave New York something to cheer about again, on this 9/11. Todd Frazier continues to make Callaway’s job harder with two homers and Jeff McNeil also contributed a pair to give both over 20 homers on the season.
Hopefully this will continue for the Amazin’s, because no matter how much they faulter, this teams seems to continue to come back, much like Frazier, who rebounded from a very disappointing August.
“(Frazier) doesn’t let things affect him,” Callaway said. “And that is much like the makeup of our team, who emulates the traits of the leaders.”
All that was missing today were the first responder hats the Mets wore down the stretch in 2001. Unfortunately MLB banned then 2011 and they only can wear them during batting practice.
No matter. The final line says it all.
Juat another laugher down the stretch? No, a game that mean so much more.
The nine runs on 11 hits should tell you the whole thing.
No back to the regularly scheduled pennant race tomorrow at 1:10 pm.
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