PHILADELPHIA — There was no loud laughter inside the New York Mets clubhouse.
No screams or shouts of euphoria.
Really, precious little emotion.
The Mets, pulling off yet another stunning late-inning victory Saturday, this time 6-2 over the Philadelphia Phillies in Game 1 of the National League Division Series, and they were acting as if they just played a spring-training game in Port St. Lucie, Fla.
While they may be surprising the entire baseball world, the Mets are acting as if it’s just another day at the office.
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This is now what they’ve come to expect.
Fly to Atlanta, needing to win a game the day after the regular season was supposed to end, and they win the first game of a doubleheader with an eighth-inning comeback and a ninth-inning comeback.
Travel to Milwaukee, get down to their final two outs before their season is over in the NL wild-card series, and there’s first baseman Pete Alonso hitting a game-winning, three-run homer.
Fly to Philadelphia, with 45,751 raucous fans taunting them, produce one mere hit in seven innings against ace Zack Wheeler, and then destroy the Phillies’ bullpen in one quick eighth-inning flurry.
Just like that, the Mets find themselves in the driver’s seat on the road to their first National League Championship Series since 2015.
Yet despite the victory, there was not a soul in the Mets’ clubhouse taunting the Phillies or showing the least bit of bravado, refusing to buy into the notion that by beating the Phillies and Wheeler, they now are the favorites to win the best-of-five NLDS.
“We know we’re good,’ Mets manager Carlos Mendoza said, “and we’ve got good players.’
But, Mendoza urged caution.
“It’s one game,’ Mendoza said. “We’ve got to come back [Sunday], and we’ve got to do it again, but it’s a good start. …
“You can’t take anything for granted,’ Mendoza said. “That’s a really good team. They did it throughout the whole year. They won the division by a lot. we’ve got to continue to play well against them.’
Still, this was a game that could torment the Phillies all winter, just like a year ago when they came back to Philadelphia with a 3-2 lead over the Arizona Diamondbacks in the NLCS, and lost both games to miss out on the World Series.
This night, they were in full command once again. Wheeler, who lowered his postseason career ERA to 2.18, gave up just one hit in seven innings, striking out nine. The Mets had no clue. Wheeler generated 30 swings and misses with his fastball and off-speed pitches, the most in a postseason game by any pitcher since 2019.
“I kept saying, we’ve got to get this guy out of the game,’ Mets DH J.D. Martinez said.
Said Mets shortstop Francisco Lindor: “He was unhittable.’
Mets infielder Jose Iglesias: “I have nothing but respect for him. We had to get into their bullpen.’
When Wheeler left the game after seven innings, the Mets acted as if a substitute teacher just took over their classroom and went wild. They scored five runs in the eighth off three different Phillies’ relievers, including All-Stars Jeff Hoffman and Matt Strahm, with not a single extra-base hit.
“When you’re only down one run, you’re able to think small and try to push that one run across,’ Mets left fielder Brandon Nimmo said, “and then just keep doing it. I thought what we did, you could put on a highlight reel, this is just good baseball without hitting a home run. Very, very proud of the guys for that.’
And, yeah, maybe they didn’t visibly celebrate Wheeler’s departure after seven innings, but it sure was a beautiful sight seeing someone else on the mound.
“He’s an unbelievable pitcher, we all know that… ‘ Nimmo said. “For us to be able to get to him, at least not let him throw a complete game, that’s kind of a win in that situation. And to be able to get to the bullpen, and see what happens, These guys did an amazing job of that.’
The Mets produced five singles in the eighth inning, a walk, two sacrifice flies, and just like that, the game was over. The sellout crowd at Citizens Bank Park didn’t know whether to boo, scream or cry as they headed to the exits.
The ‘OMG,’ pumpkin-loving, Grimace-embracing Mets have seized momentum and aren’t about to let it go.
“Momentum is a real thing,’ Lindor said, “but I also believe you have to play the game the right way if you have momentum or not. We don’t have the team to go out there and roll through people. We have to go out there and do the little things right for us to win.’
This is a team that was 24-35 on June 2 then went 65-38 the rest of the regular season – winning 20 of their last 29 games – and now are rolling in October.
“I do believe in momentum,’ Nimmo said. “And I believe that we have confidence right now…. I believe in the hard work that we’ve done, and I believe in the preparation that these guys do each and every day.
“But momentum is a big thing. And having confidence is a big thing.
“And the guys are showing a lot of that right now.’
The Mets have believed all summer they were capable of doing this, but never let themselves get cocky.
It was the same after the game, telling reporters that they simply are playing the game the right way, and when you play hard, clean baseball, good things are going to happen.
Meanwhile, there could be a sense of panic in the other dugout, with the Phillies well-aware they can’t afford to go down 2-0 with Games 3 and 4 in New York.
“Philadelphia is an unbelievable team,’ Nimmo said. “We played very, very tough games throughout the regular season, dogfight games. So being able to get the first one is really important, you know, especially for us heading back home with those two.
“It puts pressure on the other side right away.’
We’re about to find out the Phillies respond, but Wheeler can’t pitch again until Game 5. They’re opting to go with young starter Cristopher Sanchez Sunday instead of veteran Aaron Nola. And they are about to be faced with their first must-win game of the season.
“This was a tough loss,’ Wheeler said. “It’s not where we want to be. It’s important to get out of here with a split.
“We’ve got to win one while we’re home.’
Or else, they’ll be home all winter, marveling at the Mets’ magic carpet ride.
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