New York Mets Kodai Senga prepares to pitch during the first inning of Game 1 of a baseball NL Division Series against the Philadelphia Phillies, Saturday, Oct. 5, 2024, in Philadelphia.
12:22 JST, October 6, 2024
PHILADELPHIA (AP) — Kodai Senga punched the dugout railing in a raw display of emotion, prompting a most unexpected Game 1 starter to raise his fist during an eighth-inning comeback that — have you been following these New York Mets? – should actually have been expected by now.
New York has mastered the art of the late rally, first in Atlanta, then in the Wild Card Series in Milwaukee and now this would-be stunner – five runs in the eighth against two All-Star relievers for a 6-2 victory Saturday over the Philadelphia Phillies in the opener of their NL Division Series.
“In the long run, if you keep doing that over and over again, it should work out,” Mets fielder Brandon Nimmo said. “And we have plenty of good hitters that, if we all plan and all take our chances, we like our chances to break through.
“So I think Atlanta, Milwaukee, are very recent examples that you have in the back of your mind to give you the confidence that you’ll never get out.”
Senga played his small role in the win quite well for a pitcher who was an injured sideshow all season. He threw two innings in just his second start of the year, throwing 31 pitches before giving way to a sensational bullpen.
The right-hander served up Kyle Schwarber’s leadoff home run on his third pitch and left with the Mets trailing 1-0. He struck out three and walked one; Schwarber’s home run was the only hit he allowed.
Senga had thrown just 5 1/3 Major League innings all year before being announced by New York manager Carlos Mendoza as the surprise starter for the NLDS opener.
The Japanese star joined the Mets on a five-year, $75 million contract ahead of the 2023 season and became an All-Star in his first season. He went 12-7 with a 2.98 ERA in 29 starts and finished second in the NL Rookie of the Year voting.
But the 31-year-old has made just one start this season as he battled shoulder and calf injuries. Senga, the team’s projected No. 1 starter, was also slowed late in the year by tightness in his right triceps.
He impressed enough against the Phillies that Mendoza was able to call on Senga again for a fresh start in the best-of-five series.
New York Mets Kodai Senga prepares to pitch during the first inning of Game 1 of a baseball NL Division Series against the Philadelphia Phillies, Saturday, Oct. 5, 2024, in Philadelphia.
“If they call on me, I prepare to pitch that day. That’s all there is to it,” Senga said through an interpreter.
Mendoza said in his first season as Mets manager that the plan for Game 1 was two innings, or about 35 pitches.
“We have an idea of what we’re doing there,” Mendoza said. “Hopefully we get to a point where that relationship continues to develop and more conversations happen, kind of like what I have with the starters, that I have throughout the year, and I know when to push and when not to push. I don’t think I’m there with Senga.”
David Peterson, who earned his first career save in the Wild Card Series clincher against Milwaukee, kept the Mets in the game with three innings of shutout relief. Reed Garrett pitched two perfect innings for the win.
Phil Maton struck out two in a scoreless eighth – Mets pitchers fanned eight – and Ryne Stanek was touched for a run in the ninth.
Thanks to the five-run burst and a stellar bullpen effort, the Mets could afford to rest closer Edwin Díaz.
The Mets stunned the Phillies and another packed house at Citizens Bank Park not with a dramatic drive like Pete Alonso’s go-ahead, three-run homer in the ninth inning of Game 3 in Milwaukee, but instead stifled the bullpen with singles and sacrifices. flies.
With Phillies great Zack Wheeler out of the game after throwing one-hit ball over seven shutout innings, the Mets had three straight batters reach base in the eighth after being down 0-2. Mark Vientos hit a tying single and Nimmo hit a go-ahead single past a tying infield for a 2-1 lead.
All-Star relievers Jeff Hoffman and Matt Strahm combined for just one out and allowed five runs in the eighth.
Nimmo added an RBI single in the ninth. All of New York’s eight hits – seven in the final two innings – were singles.
After the final out, Mets fans crowded the rows behind their dugout and chanted “Let’s Go Mets! Let’s go Mets!”
Leave it to the Mets to win this one late; they have scored 18 runs in the eighth and ninth innings over six games since Monday. New York joined the 1980 Phillies and the 1999 Mets as the only teams to win consecutive playoff games after trailing in the eighth inning or later.
No doubt the Mets will be flying high when they send right-hander Luis Severino to the mound in Game 2 on Sunday.
“In Atlanta it was a two-game series for the life of us, and in Milwaukee it was three,” Nimmo said. “So you still go into it and understand that you have to win three games, and it doesn’t matter how you get there as long as you get there.”
