Andrew TredinnickNorthJersey.com
Over the last month, the Mets have had to weather their fair share of blown saves and painful collapses.
In the finale of the London Series on Sunday, the Mets were able to flip the script, shake off some pressure and snatch a victory in the ninth inning against Phillies closer Jose Alvarado.
Entering the ninth inning trailing by one run, the first four runners reached base, with Mark Vientos tying the game on a chopper to the left side. The Mets went ahead by two runs when Pete Alonso was hit by a pitch and Vientos scored on a wild pitch.
Then, in the bottom of the inning, with the Mets teetering on another collapse and the bases loaded, Drew Smith was able to induce a swinging bunt from Nick Castellanos, and Mets catcher Luis Torrens stepped on home plate and delivered a double play to help the Mets grab a 6-5 victory at London Stadium.
Torrens side-stepped a brash slide by Phillies pinch-runner Garrett Stubbs to pick up the final two outs.
"It was all pretty quick," Torrens told reporters through an interpreter. "The first thing that I thought about doing was getting that out at home and then if we could get that out first, that's what we wanted to do."
After falling behind by three runs, the Mets had drawn even in the top of the sixth inning with an RBI double by Brandon Nimmo and two-run single by J.D. Martinez.
The ninth-inning comeback helped the Mets salvage a split against the Phillies and improve to 28-36. The Mets will now look to carry some momentum home as they head back to the United States for a six-game homestand against the Marlins and Padres beginning on Tuesday night.
"What I'm proud of is the guys never quit," Nimmo told reporter. "Easily in there you could be like, 'Alvarado's in. It's tough,' and 1-2-3, you're done. I know that happens sometimes where he's just on, but we caught him today on a day where he didn't quite have his sharper stuff and the guys were able to put up amazing at-bats and get the two-run lead for us."
Jeff McNeil provides a lift
When the Mets called up Jose Iglesias on May 31, Carlos Mendoza offered that it was a chance for Jeff McNeil to work on some things at the plate.
McNeil's absence from the starting lineup lasted exactly a week with the Mets facing a number of left-handed starters in a row.
On Sunday, McNeil was back in the lineup and provided a spark in the latter innings, poking a pair of singles and scoring the go-ahead run in the ninth when Alonso was hit by Alvarado.
"I wasn't sure how today was going to go," McNeil said in an interview with SNY. "I haven't played in a while, haven't seen live pitching in a week. I felt really good that first at-bat, saw the ball well and felt like my normal self."
A misplayed pop-up by Alec Bohm extended his at-bat in the seventh inning and he blooped a single into center field. After being left stranded at second base, McNeil poked a single up the middle off Phillies closer Jose Alvarado in the top of the ninth inning.
It was McNeil's second multi-hit game in his last three appearances.
Jose Quintana's short start
For the second straight game, the Mets' rotation put sizable pressure on the bullpen.
Neither Sean Manaea on Saturday nor Jose Quintana on Sunday could get through four innings of work. Mendoza was able to use his bullpen liberally with the two games being played between three off days.
Quintana was removed with two outs in bottom of the fourth inning after Edmundo Sosa knocked an RBI double and Whit Merrifield delivered an RBI single through the right side to move the Phillies ahead 3-0. The left-hander was replaced by Danny Young after giving up four hits in the frame.
Mendoza used six relievers in the contest. The Phillies jumped back ahead 4-3 against Dedniel Nunez when he gave up a go-ahead pinch-hit solo home run to David Dahl.
After recording four outs between the seventh and eighth innings, Reed Garrett went back out for the ninth but gave up a leadoff single to Cristian Pache and hit J.T. Realmuto. Smith gave up a single and a bases-loaded walk but got the two critical outs on Castellanos' broken bat squib in front of home plate.
Another dramatic win against the Phillies
The Phillies (45-20) entered the day with the best record in Major League Baseball, and they had dominated the season series with their National League East rivals to the north.
Sunday's victory was the Mets' second in six tries against the Phillies this season.
Both wins have come in dramatic fashion. In the Mets' previous triumph over the Phillies back on May 16, they also delivered a loss to Alvarado. In the top of the 11th inning at Citizens Bank Park, J.D. Martinez knocked an RBI single and later scored on a wild pitch.
