It generally happens this way: A team that can’t get out of its own way finally gets out of its own way, and in the aftermath you’re left blinking in surprise and wondering, “What was so hard about that?”
Not that the Mets made it easy from the jump on Saturday. Bryce Harper [1] connected for a two-run homer in the second off Christian Scott [2], with the ball banging off the fence about a foot above A.J. Ewing [3]‘s head — an odd inverse echo of Derek Hill [4] going above the fence to take a two-run shot away from Juan Soto [5] on Friday night.
But that one pitch aside, Scott was effective in his return from the IL, giving up nothing else before departing in the fifth rather than face the Phillies’ formidable order a third time. Unfortunately, in an all-too-familiar story, the Met bats looked completely inert, doing nothing against opener Tim Mayza [6] or bulk guy Alan Rangel [7]. Rangel bedeviled the Mets, keeping hitter after hitter off-balance, but in the sixth he tired, or the baseball gods decided to let up on the Mets, or maybe it was a bit of both. Before you could blink, Soto had singled and Bo Bichette [8] had singled and Francisco Lindor [9] had tripled them home, tying the game. Rangel exited after walking Jared Young [10], but Jonathan Bowlan [11] walked Mark Vientos [12] and surrendered a game-breaker of a two-run single to Ewing.
That was all the Mets needed, though the next inning’s Soto triple and Bichette sacrifice fly were certainly welcome; giving Luke Weaver [13] and Devin Williams [14] a little more breathing room to put down the Phillies and give Andy Green [15] his first Mets managerial win. [16] (Francisco Alvarez [17] handed Green the ball at the end of the handshake line, and I imagined the ghost of Willie Randolph [18]‘s celebratory cigar puffing out a smoky sigh of relief.
Where did all this offense come from all of a sudden? Don’t ask — a bedrock rule of baseball is that it will make a fool out of anyone who thinks they have a crystal ball. Just don’t assume whatever happened today will also happen tomorrow.
What was so hard about that? Maybe everything. For a night, though, put the crystal ball aside and just enjoy it.