Francisco Alvarez’s recent offensive slump hasn’t affected his play at catcher.
On Thursday night, he made two big plays that sealed the Mets’ victory.
The young catcher got Whit Merrifield out trying to steal third base in the ninth inning, then completed a rundown of a failed squeeze attempt one inning later to lead the team to a 3-2 victory over the rival Braves at Citi Field, marking their fourth straight win.
On a night when the Mets didn’t get much done offensively against ace left-hander Chris Sale, Alvarez’s defense was crucial.
“That’s what makes him so important to this team,” coach Carlos Mendoza said. “Not just him. [Luis] Torrens, the catcher. Both of them. They can stop the running game. We saw that today. … [Merrifield] He’s a really good base stealer, especially at stealing third base, and for Albie to pitch like that and get him out was a big part of the game for me.”
With one out in the bottom of the ninth and the score tied, Merrifield was on second base and started running.
Alvarez threw a laser.
The play was reviewed, but there was some uncertainty as to whether third baseman Mark Vientos had tagged out in time for the pinch runner, but the call on the field stood.
In the tenth, Alvarez came out big again.
Ramon Laureano was on third base with one out and ran with the pitch.
It was suicidal.
But reliever Phil Mutton threw a pitch high and outside, and Jarred Kelenic managed to hold the bat after attempting to bunt.
Alvarez quickly ran towards Laureano, who passed the ball to Vientos, who passed it to Alvarez, who then touched it to Laureano.
Laureano thrust his shoulder forward to shove the Mets catcher, and the two exchanged a few words.
“He hit me hard and I got up,” Alvarez recalled.
Laureano then apologized to Alvarez and further incident was averted.
The Mets made it through the inning and later in the inning, Laureano overran a Jeff McNeil fly down the right field line to secure the win.
Alvarez has struggled at the plate this month.
He has a .639 OPS and just four extra-base hits, but as the Mets’ recent win showed, he hasn’t carried those issues onto the field.
In fact, Alvarez takes particular pride in his defense, saying he would rather get out a runner attempting to steal a base than give up a big hit in a big game.
So, of course, he would have liked to have a better performance than his 0-for-3 night at the plate, but he was all smiles after the win.
