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NEW YORK – There’s a reason the basics-laden drag bunt is one of baseball’s rarest games. It is difficult to execute, requiring a precisely placed ball. A thumb in the wrong direction and a forced exit becomes inevitable.
For a goal-laden dropout to succeed, it has to look like the one Jeff McNeil presented on Friday in the third inning of the Mets’ 10-3 win over the Yankees. With the blowout still a one-point game at that point, McNeil surprised the defense with high-jump drag decay to the right side of the infield. He was hit with too much velocity for the pitcher to line up, but too little for the second or first baseman to successfully charge him. By the time the ball settled into Anthony Rizzo’s glove, Michael Conforto had already scored without leaving his feet.
In terms of the likelihood of winning, decay was a footnote. It didn’t deliver the same sort of punch as Javier Báez’s two hits, James McCann’s brace or Francisco Lindor’s home run. But in front of the third-biggest crowd of the season at Citi Field, it represented the type of creativity that the Mets often lacked – and that they’ll have to keep working if they want to make a run in the 11th hour National League Ranking .
“He kept the rally going,” Mets manager Luis Rojas said of McNeil. “It’s not a game you usually rely on, but if you feel it and have a good defense read and you have the right pitcher and you know you can do it, then by all means ways. It worked this time. “
The base-laden decay stroke was only the second in Mets history and the first by a position player; Bill Pulsipher had the other on Sept. 6, 1995. It was also only the third single with loaded goals and no outs in Major League Baseball’s last 30 years, according to the Elias Athletic Bureau.
Trailing behind by a run before third, the Mets rallied with a hit and three straight runs from Jordan Montgomery – the third of them forcing the home race tied. The green light run subsequently scored from an error, bringing McNeil to home plate with the bases loaded.
After McNeil’s scoring shot, the Mets scored twice as much this inning before tacking late to make the game laugh. Their own starter, Tylor Megill, struck out a career-high 10 batters en route to seven two-run innings.
“The energy was definitely different,” Megill said.
Credit McNeil for at least part of this. Statistically one of the Mets’ most disappointing players this summer, McNeil came into the night with just .243 with a .313 percentage on base – nothing close to what he contributed in his first three. seasons in the big leagues, in which he has beaten well every year. over .300. Injuries hit McNeil, resulting in loss of playing time. And like many Mets hitters, he struggled to come out of it, hitting just 0.172 in September before entering on Friday.
So why not create something?
As McNeil approached home plate with bases loaded, the opposing third baseman was close to the edge of the grass, but the right side of the infield was playing. McNeil only had to contemplate cavities, much like he did more frequently in miners.
“It took me back to the days when Jeff had less weight on him, couldn’t hit the ball out of the park in A-ball,” said Rojas, who was also McNeil’s manager at the time. “He would cushion with two hits, he would cushion in situations like that. So unexpected. It wasn’t a game board or anything. It was just him. … You don’t see this in the game.
For a Mets offense that has ranked near the bottom of the Majors in points per game all season, it was, as Báez put it, “being simple” and working to “pass the stick to the next player “. And while McNeil’s decay helped lead the Mets to nothing more than a singular victory, it was an example of the exact kind of spark they need.
“Every win counts here,” said Lindor. “Every victory is huge in September. We have to go there day in and day out and do our best. Everything you need for cold weather playing in October. Yes, every victory counts, that’s for sure.
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