Carlos Mendoza got the manager's version of a two-hit shutout victory Tuesday night in his first postseason game as a manager.
He deftly trusted starting pitcher Luis Severino and got the most out of him. He got two shutout bullpen efforts from Jose Butt and Ryne Stanek. He cleverly started Jesse Winker at DH and then brought JD Martinez off the bench, and they both scored four points.
He completely outperformed Brewers manager Pat Murphy, also making his playoff debut as skipper. If Mendoza is playing chess, Murphy is playing Candyland. It was a good start to Mendoza's postseason career.
But this is what makes baseball so interesting.
If this is a game of make-up, as we learn over and over again, it's also a game of frightening vulnerability. Today's genius is tomorrow's thug. Mendoza must have known that already. He's been in this game for years. It's not that brutal when you get your first bowl of humble pie either.
Mendoza spoke Wednesday night after his Mets surrendered an eighth inning lead and gave up one run due to a barrage of questionable movement from Mendoza and questionable pitching from Phil Mayton. In a 5-on-3 game against the Brewers, their season was once again shortened to a one-game final test.
“I got punched today,” Mendoza said. “They're a good ball club. We'll be ready.”
Perhaps if the Mets had taken some great chances in the first seven innings, they could have built a bigger cushion than the 3-2 advantage they had in the eighth. Perhaps if Pete Alonso hadn't tripped over his bat in the first inning and cost the Mets a run, they might have definitely scored later, but with a two-run lead, things might have been a little different.
However, managers cannot manage it that way. They have to deal with what they have. Sean Manaea forced the Mets to pitch five solid innings, throwing 86 pitches, but Mendoza chose not to ask Manaea to do what he had asked Severino to do 24 hours earlier: eat six innings. , you've knocked down the first domino. So instead of needing nine outs from the bullpen like Tuesday, they needed 12 outs.
He easily won half of them, with help from Francisco Alvarez throwing base steal candidates, and Reid Garrett and Ryne Stanek had six up and six down. From then until 7 o'clock it was successful.
And then came the eighth.
Mendoza had three options. He could use Edwin Diaz to counter the Brewers' 1-2-3 hitters, but that would be the only inning he could use Diaz, after which he would use someone else to play the ninth inning. I'll have to think about it. He might stick with Stanek, but Stanek pitched more than an inning just twice all year, and only once as a Met, in a 7-0 loss. .
Stanek has also allowed eight home runs in 55¹/₃ innings this year with the Mariners and Mets, and while he hit .98 on Wednesday, his fastball is favored by fastball hitters such as Brewers young star Jackson Cholio. Often. He had already hit one home run and was leading from the eighth inning.
“I didn't like that matchup against Chorio,” Mendoza later explained. “He's a really good fastball hitter.”
Number three behind the door was Mayton, who allowed exactly one home run in 28/3 innings as a Met, but hadn't allowed one since July 12th.
“We were hoping for a mutton vs. chorio matchup,” Mendoza said, and that's what he got. Moments later, Chourio hit a two-seamer well over the right-field fence to tie the game at three points. Mayton then allowed a devastating single to Blake Perkins. He was rescued by a double play at one point, but this time he allowed a single to Willie Adames.
Mendoza should have taken him there. Maton's curveball, usually his most deadly pitch, missed and hung in one after the other. Then, another shot to Garrett Mitchell, and the Mets suddenly found themselves in the familiar position of being one game away from extinction.
Not all of Mendoza, but enough. Managers make dozens of choices during a game. They never ask themselves, “How can I mess this up the most?”
Sometimes that happens anyway. Even just one day after rolling a 7, the dice can turn ice cold. The pile of chips disappears in an instant. Tough job. Especially in October.
