The word that kept popping up was “unbelievable.”
It was an “unbelievable” atmosphere, manager Carlos Mendoza said. Luisangel Acuna’s steadiness and excellence in his first week in the majors, in which he has been thrust into a playoff chase, has been “unbelievable,” Brandon Nimmo said. The desire that Francisco Alvarez plays with is “unbelievable,” Nimmo added.
The Amazin’ Mets have gained a new adjective in a campaign that has played out fairly unbelievably and is threatening to play out longer than expected. Saturday’s game technically took place on Sept. 21 but had the weight and feeling of October.
It was not just the atmosphere, though, that seemed worthy of the postseason: The Mets are playing like a playoff team.
In what might have been the rowdiest afternoon in Queens this season, Sean Manaea was dominant and his offense loud enough, a three-run seventh inning making the difference in a 6-3 win over the Phillies in front of 44,152 at Citi Field.
The Mets (86-69) remained two games clear of the Braves in the chase for the final NL wild card and ensured they would arrive in Atlanta on Tuesday with the edge. Mendoza’s group will enter its most significant showdown of the season having at worst split a series with the division-best Phillies.
“That’s what it should look, [what] it should feel like,” Mendoza said after the Mets — notably Nimmo — had asked for large crowds and got the fifth-biggest in regular-season Citi Field history. “That’s what you signed up for. That’s what you dream [about].”
Speaking of dreams, Acuna — who a week and change ago was finishing off a disappointing season with Triple-A Syracuse before Francisco Lindor’s injury changed everything — launched his third homer in just his eighth big league game.
“I wasn’t expecting to be here a couple of weeks ago,” Acuna said through interpreter Alan Suriel after his home run in the second inning gave the Mets a 2-1 lead.
Acuna’s solo shot came two batters after Alvarez smoked his fifth dinger in his past nine games. Months of offensive struggles — and behind-the-scenes work to find his stroke — have begun to pay off.
“I feel more powerful. I feel more like last year,” said Alvarez, whose biggest swing arrived later in the game.
A tie game was decided in the seventh, when a Mets team that had left too many on base finally capitalized.
Against dominant righty Orion Kerkering, the Mets mounted a threat with Starling Marte walking and Pete Alonso (who had one hit but reached base five times) getting drilled. With one out, Nimmo looped a single into left field and screamed to his dugout with joy and, suddenly, a lead.
Two batters later Alvarez came through for a second time on the day with a perfectly placed drive into left-center. The ball seemed to hang in the air for minutes, but it landed having split the outfielders for a two-run double.
“There was no way he’s going to catch it,” a smiling Alvarez said, his confidence carrying over to some batted-ball luck.
The Phillies scored once in the eighth against Reed Garrett before Edwin Diaz entered with a runner on first and Kyle Schwarber at the plate. Diaz struck out the potential tying run and — after an Alonso bloop, RBI single added some insurance in the bottom of the eighth — Diaz shut down the Phillies in the ninth.
The Mets lost Lindor and have not lost a beat. They called up Acuna, have received countless step-ups from an offense that is rolling and continue to survive games that might be toss-ups.
“We needed to find a way,” said Mendoza, and it has helped that they have found an ace.
Manaea was excellent again in seven-plus innings in which he was charged with three runs on three hits (two of them homers) without a walk and with six strikeouts. In 11 games since July 30, the lefty has only allowed as many as four runs once and has pitched to a 2.50 ERA.
He was efficient, needing just 89 pitches to pitch into the eighth inning. After Manaea let up a leadoff single to J.T. Realmuto, the sellout crowd gave him a standing ovation, Manaea returning the gesture with a tipped cap and a blown kiss.
Expect a similar potential send-off to Alonso on Sunday, who might be playing his final home game as a Met. The pending free agent’s future is unclear — but then, so is his team’s.
“It’s not going to be his last game here,” Mendoza said, looking ahead to October baseball in Queens. “We’re planning on playing more games here this year.”
