By metstradamus | May 3, 2021 12:50 am
Sunday’s victory is probably my favorite Mets regular season game in a long, long time.
Of course, I can say that now that is over, and there was certainly a circuitous route that the Mets took to get there. But now that it’s over, you can’t argue that this is probably the first game since the 80’s where the Mets received every break and every bit of good karma that they could possibly have received.
First thing, and I’m going to start earlier than I should, is that I agreed at the time and still agree with the move to bring in Miguel Castro in the 6th to face the meat of the Phillies order with the Mets up 2-1. Now this was before I realized that Didi Gregorius was something like 6-for-15 against Castro, and Gregorius smacked a home run to make it 4-2, seemingly sending the game to the middle of the ocean forever. But with David Peterson getting barreled up pretty good early in the game, it would have been tempting fate to leave him in, and Castro has been good all season. (What really hurt was the error which allowed Bryce Harper to reach first base.)
May 2, 2021; Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA; New York Mets shortstop Francisco Lindor (12) and right fielder Michael Conforto (30) walk off the field after scoring in the eighth inning against the Philadelphia Phillies at Citizens Bank Park. Mandatory Credit: Kyle Ross-USA TODAY Sports
But such an inning existed so that we could have the top of the 8th, perhaps my favorite half inning since Piazza capped off a 10 run 8th with a dinger off Terry Mulholland. Kevin Pillar, who is getting playing time because Brandon Nimmo couldn’t start the game with a bad finger (and because he’s Veterany McVeteran), led off with a dinger to cut the Phillies lead to 4-3, and it was his third hit of the game. Jonathan Villar then reached on an infield single, which was followed by James McCann flying out on what could have been a hit and run, but we’re not really sure. But then came the first true gem of the game: Jose Peraza, who was pinch hitting, laced a single off the glove of Rhys Hoskins which sent Villar to third. Then, with Hoskins pulling a David Cone and holding on to the ball for dear life, Villar turned into Ernie Whitt and scored, making Hoskins look like a fool which, let’s face it, he deserves to look like.
But if that wasn’t enough schaudenfreude, in comes Jose Alvarado who was eligible to pitch on Sunday because he appealed his three game suspension for being a jackass. The fruits of that decision started getting plump with a first pitch single to Jeff McNeil to put runners on first and third. Then, Alvarado walked Francisco Lindor, who earlier in the game flied out harmlessly to right field with the bases loaded and two outs as he continued his stretch of pressing to start the season. But Lindor was patient, and Alvarado was clearly trying to throw the ball 200 mph, and Lindor drew a walk to load the bases. Then Michael Conforto came up with the bases loaded, and Alvarado was worse, missing badly on his second five pitch walk, this one bringing in the go ahead run. So when you think about it, this inning featured a vapor lock by Hoskins, and Alvarado completely melting down. What more could you possibly want out of this inning?
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