FLUSHING - Right man, right spot!
With the Mets desperately seeking to end the hex cast upon them by the Arizona Diamondbacks a week ago, Jeff McNeil wielded his magic wand and, with one swing, restored the faith in the Amazins' march.
McNeil clubbed a walk-off, two-run homer in the bottom of the 10th as the Mets scrapped their way to a 3-1 victory to extend their win streak to three and ease any lingering issues from the "Debacle in the Desert" in which we dropped three consecutive, painful losses to the D-Backs.
Marcus Stroman tossed 6 2/3 scoreless innings, allowing three hits and three walks while
fanning five, getting crucial outs to extinguish threats as Arizona stranded 10 runners.
There were some pre-game issues in the front office that were addressed before first pitch. With Yoenis Cespedes finishing his rehab work in Syracuse and re-instated to the big club, the GM sent Jake Marisnick down to Triple A to make room.
That move was vetoed by yours truly, who immediately recalled Marisnick, who has been an absolute defensive superstar patrolling center field, with Luis Guillorme taking his place in Syracuse.
The 11th-hour shift in plans paid immediate dividends. Cespedes singled in his first time up, played stellar D in left, showing range to track down shots both in the corner and gap while Marisnick made a couple of diving stabs in center and staked the Mets to a 1-0 lead with sac fly in the second.
Arizona tied the game in the eighth off reliever Brad Brach, but Daniel Zamora, Dellin Betances and Edwin Diaz combined to fire two scoreless innings to get the Mets in position to strike in the 10th.
With one out, Dom Smith, who pinch hit in the 8th and stayed at first for Pete Alonso, singled to set up McNeil, who laced a 2-2 offering from Archie Bradley into the seats in right-center to finish off the dramatic win.
The Mets are now 31-17, owners of the best record in the National League and second only to the sizzling Houston Astros, who are 39-9.
