It was a DJ Stewart [1], Rafael Ortega [2] kind of day at Citi Field Wednesday afternoon, which wasn’t incompatible with it being a winning kind of day, for Ortega was on base four different times three different ways and Stewart socked a pair of homers and was in on a pair of sparkling defensive plays, and the Mets won, defeating the Pirates, 8-3 [3], in a game that means just as much as you want it to mean at this point of this type of year.
When the Mets became a DJ Stewart, Rafael Ortega kind of team, winning seemed the furthest thing from the Mets’ objective of simply finishing out the season in 26 pieces, but here are The Leftovers heating up a little and making for a savory enough series. Stewart and Ortega and 186th Mets third baseman ever Jonathan Araúz, and wasn’t that catching caddy Omar Narváez chipping in? Lest we make this completely the second coming of the Bench Mob, Pete Alonso homered, Francisco Lindor and Brandon Nimmo drove in runs and relay man Jeff McNeil served as essential conduit between Stewart and Narváez to nail Andrew McCutchen at the plate in the fifth when the Mets weren’t ahead by so many runs that it wasn’t beyond the pale that Pittsburgh could abscond with the whole darn thing. Team effort, you’d have to say.
Tylor Megill lasted five frames, which made him the IronMet of the rotation for this series. No wonder relievers come from and go back to Syracuse like there’s an outlet mall holding the maddest of sales in Onondaga County. Quick! Somebody pitch two-and-a-third! It will end your major league stay, but one day of service time is one day of service time! Today’s special guest in the bullpen was Dennis Santana [4], who replaced Jose Butto, who replaced Tyson Miller, who replaced Denyi Reyes, who replaced Jimmy Yacabonis, who replaced John Curtiss, and this — no kidding — was all in the span of eleven days. Meanwhile, Edwin Uceta [5], who went on the IL in April following three innings of work in a single relief outing, was activated on Wednesday only to find himself simultaneously designated for assignment. “What do Santana, Butto, Miller, Reyes, Yacabonis and Curtiss got that I ain’t got [6]?” Uceta might have been heard to think. Hard to build team morale when the team keeps becoming a slightly different team.
Today’s core for four (innings, that is) could count on being aboard the flight to St. Louis when all was said and done: Phil Bickford, Brooks Raley, Trevor Gott and Adam Ottavino. Santana could sit and watch and check if his plane ticket involved another time zone.
Happy flight!
The Mets winning a series from the Buccos and preparing to take on the Redbirds seems apropos to the 50th anniversary of a particular playoff push of yore. Thus, if you’d like to take a delightful baseball flight of your own back some fifty years, I suggest the handiwork of Len Ferman, who bills himself as The Sports Time Traveler [7]. Go to Len’s home page and find the 1973 Mets tab [8], where you can relive, as if it’s all happening for the very first time, the Mets’ pennant-winning season, day in and day out [9]. Len’s got articles, podcasts and a joie de vivre for his subject matter that Rusty Staub would have appreciated.
“I’m essentially trying to relive the experience I had when I was 9 years old in 1973,” Len tells me. As one who was 10 years old in 1973, I can confirm it’s an experience to experience in every form possible in 2023.