NEW YORK — Edwin Díaz kept walking. But he wasn’t nervous.
Elite shot-stoppers like Díaz don’t get nervous. They can’t. You don’t get a $100 million contract by going all out in the big moments. Instead, Díaz and his ilk must redirect the intensity—a blaring horn, 44,000 screaming fans, a one-run game in the ninth inning—into a willful adrenaline that fuels a fireworks display.
But with his Mets, the hottest team in the National Leagueclinging to a 2-1 lead On Sunday, in the bottom of the eighth inning, Díaz wouldn’t let himself get cold. He had already pitched the eighth and was being asked to pitch the ninth. Díaz, who had pitched multiple innings only four times this season, couldn’t lose his energy, couldn’t let his heart rate drop.
So he walked, back and forth, between the dugout and the clubhouse. His metal cleats filled the previously silent room with a soft clicking as the game continued outside. A rhythm amidst the chaos.
“No sitting,” he told reporters after the match when asked about his between-innings routine.
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In the top of the eighth inning, Díaz was unusually summoned by his manager, Carlos Mendoza, to face the Philadelphia Phillies’ best players. Mendoza later explained that he wanted his best player to face their best players: Kyle Schwarber, Trea Turner, Bryce Harper.
The lights at Citi Field went out and the first notes of Díaz’s famous entrance song, “Narco,” blared from the stadium speakers. Many fans, not expecting the star pitcher to come in an inning early, raised their arms in excitement. Díaz then retired his players, with strikeouts by Schwarber and Harper, on 11 pitches.
As Díaz walked down the dugout steps, Citi Field roaring behind him, Mendoza informed his closer that the ninth inning was his, too. A day after recording four outs, Díaz was asked to work two innings. A loss would cut the Mets’ playoff lead to just one game against the Braves, who host the Mets for a season-deciding series beginning Tuesday.
Desperate times call for desperate measures. Mendoza pushed the envelope and got closer.
It worked. In the ninth inning, Díaz gave in but didn’t crack. His control faltering, he issued two walks, allowing the decisive run to reach second base with two outs. That sent Mendoza out of the dugout for a rally. The manager offered strategic advice and words of encouragement. Reliever Ryne Stanek hurried to get ready in the Mets’ bullpen. Díaz wouldn’t face Schwarber, who loomed on deck, again. The Phillies, who would clinch the NL East with a victory, sensed an opening.
Diaz closed it abruptly.
With two strikes, he sent a 98.2 mph fastball past Kody Clemens, knocking him out to end the game. It was the kind of fastball that seems to pick up speed as it flies toward home plate, the kind of ball Díaz has made a career and a fortune with. On this night, it gave the Mets their sixth win in their last seven attempts.
“We’ve protected him all year,” Mendoza said after the game, referring to the club’s caution about using Díaz. “But now it’s time to become a big boy.”
The win capped a great home series in Queens for a healthy Mets team that finds itself in the second NL wild-card spot (by virtue of a tiebreaker against the Diamondbacks) and two games against Atlanta with six games remaining in the season. New York went 6-1 against the Nationals and Phillies in its final seven home games of the season, despite the team’s best player, shortstop Francisco Lindor, being sidelined with a back problem.
Lindor’s status remains uncertain. He did some baseball work Sunday but didn’t look particularly comfortable. If he plays again this regular season, it won’t be at full strength. The shortstop, who is expected to finish second in the National League MVP race, admitted as much. But the Mets haven’t missed a beat from his absence.
Had the Phillies won Sunday, they would have spent the night spraying champagne in the visiting locker room. Instead, the Mets forced their division rivals to wait a few days. Brandon Nimmo delivered the final blow, a game-tying home run in the sixth inning off likely National League Cy Young finalist Zack Wheeler. Wheeler was otherwise fantastic that night, his only other run coming on a second-inning RBI single by Tyrone Taylor. A trio of unheralded Mets pitchers — Tylor Megill, Phil Maton and José Butto — traded zeroes with Wheeler before getting the ball to Díaz.
Megill only made the Mets’ Opening Day rotation after Kodai Senga was injured. Maton was a minor acquisition before the July trade deadline. Butto is a rookie who began the year as a backup starter but has blossomed in the bullpen. Those are all great accomplishments, but none exemplifies the spirit of these Mets more than Díaz.
After signing his historic contract in November 2022, Díaz tore his ACL in dramatic fashion during the 2023 World Baseball Classic, and his return to glory has been fraught with difficulties. The two-time All-Star struggled at times during the first half of this season. A four-run implosion against the hapless Miami Marlins in mid-May sent his ERA up to 5.50. After that game, Díaz broke down in tears in the visitors’ locker room. Then a shoulder injury sent him to the injured list. Reed Garrett became the de facto tight end.
But like the Mets, Díaz has stayed the course and found his groove in the second half of the season. As the Mets have regained their prominence and found themselves in the thick of the playoff race, Díaz has shined. He has a 2.42 ERA since the start of July. He has allowed just one run in 11 appearances in September. His two-inning performance Sunday only confirmed the obvious.
“I feel really good,” he said. “I’m back from my shoulder injury at the beginning of the season, but right now I feel the rhythm, the rhythm I want to have.”
The Mets are feeling the rhythm, too.
