Mets keep rolling in a big comeback win over Texas

The Mets came back being down four to rally and win their seventh straight game. Plus, thoughts on Willie Mays' passing on Tuesday

What’s Up with the Mets? ⚾️

• The Mets rallied from four runs down to beat the Rangers 7-6 in Arlington (box)

• Luis Severino started for the Mets and pitched well until the fifth inning when he allowed two home runs as part of a five-run inning for the Rangers

• Trailing 6-2, Brandon Nimmo homered in the sixth, got a gift of a run thanks to a double play not turned by Corey Seager at second base in the seventh to make 6-4, a two-run double in the eighth from Francisco Álvarez to tie the game, and an RBI double from Pete Alonso in the ninth to put the Mets back in the lead for good

• Edwin Díaz earned his seventh save of the year with a clean ninth inning

• For the second straight game, Álvarez notched three hits and Mark Vientos also provided a three-hit night which included a solo homer

• The Mets have won seven games in a row, improved to 6-24 when trailing after seven innings, 3-3 when tied after eight innings, earned their 20th comeback win of the season, are 11-12-3 in series overall, 7-4-1 in series on the road, and 18-13 when scoring first in 2024

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Did you know? 🙋🏻‍♂️

The Mets are 18-1 in games played by Francisco Álvarez, dating back to April 4

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Down on the Farm 🌾

• RHP Joel Díaz (Low-A STL): 4.2 IP, 2 H, 2 BB, 5 K

• SS Jesus Báez (Low-A STL): 1-for-3, HR, 2 RBI

• OF Alex Ramirez (no. 16 prospect, Double-A BNG): 3-for-4, 3B, 2 RBI

• C Kevin Parada (no. 9 prospect, Double-A BNG): 1-for-3, HR, 2 RBI

• INF Pablo Reyes (Triple-A SYR): 5-for-6, 2B, 6 RBI, 2 R

• RHP Christian Scott (no. 3 prospect, Triple-A SYR): 4.1 IP, 6 H, 1 ER, 3 K

BOX SCORES

Single-A STL | High-A BRK | Double-A BNG | Triple-A SYR

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Today’s Game 🗓

Match-up: Mets (35-37) @ Rangers (33-40)

Where: Globe Life Field - Arlington, TX

Starters: LHP Sean Manaea (4-3, 4.11 ERA) vs. LHP Andrew Heaney (2-8, 4.19 ERA)

When: 8:05 PM EDT

Where to Watch: SNY

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Willie Mays - 1931-2024 😢

Hall of Famer, former Met, and American icon Willie Mays passed away at the age of 93 on Tuesday.

Now, I never got to see Willie play, of course. He retired from baseball seven years before I was even born. I’ve had to settle for videos, literature, and stories from my elders on who and what Willie Mays was as a player as well as a person.

Mays was my grandfather’s favorite player, as he was for many. The interesting part about my grandfather’s stories is he was in his 30’s living in Brooklyn during the 1950’s, being smothered by floods of Dodgers fans wherever he went. Perhaps he found some asylum during his travels into Manhattan, but he was among the very few in his neighborhood that could even stand to hear Mays’ name, let alone a 1-for-1 rival to Jackie Robinson at the time.

Mind you - this was a rivalry like none other which only became more intense after the 1951 Giants came back and won the National League pennant from the Dodgers. The Giants didn’t get to the World Series a lot during those years - they ended up losing to the Yankees in 1951 but beat the Indians in what was considered one of the great upsets in baseball history in 1954. It was always generally the Dodgers and Yankees with the Yankees prevailing in all but their contest in 1955.

But the Giants had their megastar in Mays. It was always about who was the best between Mays, Mickey Mantle and Duke Snider, the three best by far on each club in the 1950s.

But secretly, I think everyone knew it was Mays. I know my grandfather did, anyway. He could probably never say it out loud without starting a an argument with anyone, but as great as the other two was, he was probably right.

When the Giants left New York after the 1957 season, my grandfather - like many other Dodger and Giant fans - never forgave the club for abandoning him and he never really followed baseball again, even when the Mets were born. My dad became a Met fan - when the Giants and Dodgers were here, he was a little kid so the two teams leaving really didn’t have the same effect on him as it did his elders.

Of course, maybe my dad was and is a bit more forgiving than they were. But he got on the Mets bandwagon and hasn’t ever come off, through thick or thin.

I read Willie’s book a few years ago, which I strongly recommend for anyone who hasn’t gotten to it yet. It's a detailed account of his life and career as he spoke about his early trials as a person and player in the segregated south and similar noises he heard as a big leaguer. But as you read it, you hear Willie’s voice, tenor and tone and despite all of the terrible he encountered in those days, you still hear the innocent boy in him which I still would hear as he spoke in his later years who wanted nothing else but to play ball and win.

When the Mets retired Willie’s number a few years ago, I was absolutely floored. I had known he was promised by the late Joan Payson his number would be retired at Shea Stadium, but unfortunately she passed away before she could make it happen and the next owners didn’t exactly fulfill the promise for her.

I know that decision was met with mixed reviews, and there are some today who still believe the Mets might’ve unnecessarily retired his number. But retiring his number wasn’t specifically about what he did with the Mets on the back of his baseball card. We all know he came to the Mets in his 40s and he was an injured shell of the player he once was before.

You see, every great New York athlete and icon has had his or her number retired in this city. Mays was not only probably the best player in the city during the 1950’s - he’s easily a top 3 player to ever put on a uniform in this city and to not have his number retired in New York always seemed like a tragedy to me. It’s a celebration of one of the greatest athletes to ever roam our streets and don a baseball uniform in any of the four ballparks he played in here, and there were a lot of players before him and even more after him to have come and gone who could never hold a candle to the wind with Mays.

I was actually taken aback when the Mets allowed Robinson Canó to wear 24 during his time here. I was also surprised at the time Rickey Henderson was allowed to take the number as well. But, I’m not in charge.

The Mets did the right thing and hung his number up in their rafters to honor Mays, honor his time and career here in New York, and honor the history and legacy he left behind in the world he once lived in here.

That, in short, is what it’s about.

Today’s game between the Giants and Cardinals at Rickwood Field in Birmingham was supposed to in part honor Willie Mays, who had said just on Monday he wouldn’t be able to attend but was very much looking forward to watching the game on television from his home in California.

Now, that game will have an extra special meaning and somberness to it.

Baseball and the entire world lost a gem on Tuesday evening.

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Here is a statement from Mets owners Steve and Alex Cohen on Mays’ passing:

“Willie Mays was one of the greatest to ever play the game. Willie ended his Hall of Fame career in Queens and was a key piece to the 1973 NL championship team. Mays played with a style and grace like no one else. Alex and I were thrilled to honor a previous promise from Joan Payson to retire his iconic #24 as a member of the Mets in 2022. On behalf of our entire organization, we send our thoughts and prayers to Willie’s family and friends.”

A statement from the San Francisco Giants on Mays’ passing:

“Today we have lost a true legend”, said Giants Chairman Greg Johnson. “In the pantheon of baseball greats, Willie Mays’ combination of tremendous talent, keen intellect, showmanship, and boundless joy set him apart. A 24-time All-Star, the Say Hey Kid is the ultimate Forever Giant. He had a profound influence not only on the game of baseball, but on the fabric of America. He was an inspiration and a hero who will be forever remembered and deeply missed.”

A statement from MLB commissioner Rob Manfred:

“All of Major League Baseball is in mourning today as we are gathered at the very ballpark where a career and a legacy like no other began.  Willie Mays took his all-around brilliance from the Birmingham Black Barons of the Negro American League to the historic Giants franchise.  From coast to coast in New York and San Francisco, Willie inspired generations of players and fans as the game grew and truly earned its place as our National Pastime. Just as his career was ascending, Willie served his country in the U.S. Army in 1952 and 1953.  As the 1954 NL MVP, he led the Giants to victory in the World Series, in which he made one of the most memorable plays ever with ‘The Catch’ in the deep center field of the Polo Grounds.  All told, Willie was a two-time MVP, a 24-time All-Star, a 12-time Gold Glover, a selection as one of the game’s Greatest Living Players in 2015, and a recipient of the Presidential Medal of Freedom later that year. And yet his incredible achievements and statistics do not begin to describe the awe that came with watching Willie Mays dominate the game in every way imaginable.  We will never forget this true Giant on and off the field. On behalf of Major League Baseball, I extend my deepest condolences to Willie’s family, his friends across our game, Giants fans everywhere, and his countless admirers across the world. Thursday’s game at historic Rickwood Field was designed to be a celebration of Willie Mays and his peers.  With sadness in our hearts, it will now also serve as a national remembrance of an American who will forever remain on the short list of the most impactful individuals our great game has ever known.”

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Seven in a row! ✍️

Hey, let’s not forget the Mets won again on Tuesday! And they did it in dramatic fashion, too!

We are in a time during the season where literally everything is breaking right for the Mets. They’ve won seven games in a row, 13 of their last 17 and while there are two teams to jump, find themselves just 1/2 game out of this watered down wild card race, with the Diamondbacks at 36-37 for the year and the Mets having roared back to 35-37 for the year.

It’s hard to believe where we were just two or so weeks ago with this team, talking about what kind of failure and embarrassment they were for their poor and indifferent play, their likely desire to be sellers at the trade deadline, and so on and so forth.

But that’s what a playoff race (which, to be fair, has hardly been defined 72 games into the season) with three division winners and three wild cards can do. Any team that goes on even a modest hot streak can get into the race, and any team that falls into a slump can fall right out.

Mediocrity can be volatile in sports.

But here we are with the Mets, suddenly injected into the thick of a playoff race. Once the third worst team in the league by record could own a wild card spot at the close of business today.

Again, amazing what two weeks can do for a club.

Now, I am not one for the team chemistry and clubhouse thing that many people believe make or break a team. It comes down to talent and skill and simply being better than the other teams they play. Having said that, there’s no way I can ignore Francisco Álvarez and what his presence seems to do for this team.

The Mets have won 18 of the last 19 games Álvarez has played. They were above .500 when he broke his hand, fell off a cliff in his absence, and now they’re back.

Mind you, his defense is stellar and the Mets were getting absolutely nothing from the catcher’s position on either side of the ball in his absence. So he has added that skill back to the roster which was indisputably lacking while he was on the mend from thumb surgery. But since the day the Mets brought Álvarez up, he has added energy, an attitude, swagger, and a real presence on this team that they simply don’t have anywhere else.

So there maybe something to the chemistry thing with respect to Álvarez. It could also be that he’s a massive upgrade over anyone else they had. Or both.

I also can’t discount the Grimace effect.

The Mets are 7-0 since Grimace threw out the first pitch at Citi Field last week, with his City Connect hat on at that.

There was the black cat in 1969. Maybe now they have Grimace to mark the time for them?

All jokes aside, the offense has really clicked during this 17 game stretch. They’re first in MLB in batting average (.298), OBP (.365), SLG (.499), tied for first with Arizona and the Yankees with 107 runs scored and first in wRC+ (149). That’s why when they were down 6-2 after the fifth on Tuesday, you simply couldn’t count the offense out.

And you could see in their faces the determination and belief that they not only could come back, but would come back.

That is perhaps the best part about this hot stretch. Sure, winning is fun but the energy has returned to this club, that which seemed to have gone absent in May. Whatever was said in that team meeting combined with the roster shakeup has triggered something in this team, whether its accountability or they were warned nobody’s job is safe, or something that has lit a fire under their asses to make this team play to their potential.

Or, maybe Grimace just brought some magic potion too.

I have to hand it to Mets manager Carlos Mendoza. He has kept an even keel despite what has been a very topsy turvy run of his first 72 games as a manager. He never seemed to panic despite the free fall the team was on in May, and always seemed to believe this group would eventually swing the pendulum the other way. For 17 games anyway, his prayers have been answered but its also a testament to his ability to shield the clubhouse from all of the noise as well as he did, deflect the trade deadline talk and keep the focus on the people in the room and their need to get better.

And that they certainly have done.

The manager usually gets ridiculed when the team does poorly, but rarely gets a lot of credit for when the team performs well. I think Mendoza deserves a standing ovation for his ability to actually manage these players and keep them from going over the cliff.

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Around the League 🚩

• The Phillies scored one in the eighth and two in the ninth to push past the Padres 4-3

• Nestor Cortes threw six shutout innings to help the Yankees beat the Orioles 4-2

• Tim Anderson, Bryan De La Cruz and Josh Bell each drove in two runs as the Marlins rallied to beat the Cardinals 9-8

• Spencer Schwellenbach gave the Braves six innings of one-run ball and both Ozzie Albies and Marcell Ozuna drove in single runs as they edged the Tigers 2-1 to get back to 9 games over .500.