The Mets’ comeback in the bottom of the ninth inning ended with Brandon Nimmo’s outburst, but it started with Jeff McNeil’s leadoff drag bunt.
McNeil entered the at-bat without a hit, but was also aware that he hasn’t had much success in his career against Atlanta’s AJ Minter.
So McNeil took a wide swing “to see if I could hit something into the gap,” then changed his approach and bunted the next pitch past Minter on the right side of the mound.
Second baseman Ozzie Albies had no chance, but the Mets suddenly found themselves poised to at least have a chance to tie the game.
Instead, Nimmo’s game-winning home run sealed the victory, 4-3, at Citi Field on Sunday.
Manager Carlos Mendoza said, “This is a credit to McNeil, who led the way with a bunt to the left front in the first inning.”
Thomas Nido bunted McNeil to second base, and Brandon Nimmo, who started on the bench Saturday with intercostal inflammation, hit a winning two-run home run to end the night and avoid an Atlanta sweep.
McNeil said he waited to bunt for much of the series after realizing Atlanta was “giving us bunts.”
McNeil took his final at-bat on Sunday.
“We wanted to wait until the right situation occurred to do it,” McNeil said. “You don’t want to waste it on a few runs, you don’t want to waste it on a few runs.”
He added that the fact that he had no hits in his past nine at bats was also factored into this move.
“I didn’t feel great at the plate,” said McNeil, who had an OPS of just .474 in 19 total at-bats against Minter. “It’s always in my back pocket when I need it, so I decided to take it out.”
He caught the fastball high and completed a turnaround.
It also helped that the top of the lineup came up after Nido’s bunt.
Starling Marte has struggled lately, but Francisco Lindor and Pete Alonso, the No. 3 and No. 4 batters, respectively, have been playing well lately, each with two hits on Sunday.
Perhaps Nimmo’s dramatic home run will be the hit that gets the Mets’ season back on track.
And if that happened, McNeil’s bunt would have helped it.
