After a chaotic Wednesday that featured several worrisome injuries and relief pitcher panic during and after the game, leading to DFAs and players-only meetings, the Mets desperately needed not just signs of life but signs of stability.
A series of performances by the club’s veteran members completely changed the situation.
Francisco Lindor’s hitting gave the Mets a chance, and Pete Alonso came off the bench, ignoring pain in his right hand, to mount a late-inning rally.
Then, in the series opener on Thursday in front of 20,926 fans at Citi Field, J.D. Martinez hit a powerful home run to give the Diamondbacks a comeback victory, 3-2.
The Mets (23-33) are hoping to end a four-game losing streak and snap an all-out slump.
The win was their second in their last 10 games and third in their last 13 games.
They were down 2-1 until they started battling back in the seventh inning.
A day after being forced to leave the game with a drill on his hand, Alonso had negative imaging results but still managed to pinch-hit and smash a double down the third base line.
With two outs, Lindor hit a one-run single to right field to tie the game.
Manager Lindor called a team meeting the night before so the players could discuss ideas with each other and try to break out of this slump, but he went 4-for-4 in the game, including a crucial single and three home runs.
After every big hit, he would always pump his fist in the dugout, trying to lift his team up in some way.
Maybe it worked for the 36-year-old Martinez, who came on to pitch in the eighth inning with the score tied and hit his fourth home run of the season, which turned out to be the game-winning run.
Despite being short on manpower, the Mets’ relief pitchers pitched well and held on to the three-run lead.
Christian Scott pitched well, allowing just two runs in five innings, before Adrian Houser, Danny Young and Reid Garrett (his third save) all pitched four scoreless innings together.
The Mets’ bullpen has been a weakness in recent weeks, likely due to overuse, but it has never looked more vulnerable than it is right now.
Without an injured Edwin Diaz and once-dependable pitcher Jorge Lopez, who left the team after a bout of in-game and post-game rage, the Mets fought their way through the sixth through ninth innings while Arizona held them hitless.
