The New York Mets are apparently the ’98 Yankees in the eighth and ninth innings.
The Mets pulled off another late comeback Saturday, their third in six days, to take a 1-0 lead in a National League Division Series against the NL East rival Philadelphia Phillies.
Apparently, all the Mets needed was to face pitchers other than Zack Wheeler.
The former Met dominated his old team, tossing seven innings of scoreless ball while striking out nine, lowering his career postseason ERA to 2.18. However, Phils manager Rob Thomson thought 111 pitches was enough.
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The Mets took advantage of the Phillies’ bullpen, scoring five runs on five hits and two sac flies. Jeff Hoffman gave up three earned runs without recording an out for a postseason ERA of infinity. Matt Strahm surrendered the other two earned runs allowed in the frame.
Brandon Nimmo had an RBI single in both the eighth and ninth innings, while Mark Vientos, wild-card hero Pete Alonso, pinch-hitter J.D. Martinez and Starling Marte each drove in a run.
New York surprised everyone Friday when they announced that Kodai Senga, who made just one start during the regular season, would take the bump Saturday. His return started badly when Kyle Schwarber tattooed a solo shot to lead off the bottom of the first. But that was the only run Philly scored until the ninth inning.
Senga, on a pitch count, was done after two innings, and David Peterson followed with three scoreless innings of relief. Reed Garrett, Phil Maton and Ryne Stanek recorded the final 12 outs.
The Mets clinched their postseason spot Monday in miraculous fashion after trailing 3-0 in the eighth and 7-6 in the ninth. But their victory Thursday blew that one out of the water.
Two outs away from elimination and trailing 2-0, Alonso hit a three-run homer, making it the only time in MLB history a player hit a go-ahead home run in the ninth inning or later in a winner-take-all game.
Apparently, the Mets just know how to come up big when it matters most. In their last two games, they are 3-for-44 in the first seven innings and 8-for-17 in the eighth and ninth frames.
It’s a tough loss for the Phillies, who have the pitching advantage in Game 2. Christopher Sanchez (3.91 ERA) will go up against Luis Severino, who pitched to a 3.91 ERA in the regular season but has a lifetime ERA of 5.07 in the postseason.
Game 2 is Sunday in Philly at 4:08 p.m. ET.
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