We were lucky that Gary, Keith and Ron were not the third base umpires.
SNY anchors Gary Cohen, Keith Hernandez and Ron Darling couldn’t believe that Mets third baseman Mark Vientos tagged out Braves runner Whit Merrifield in a crucial moment of Thursday’s 3-2 extra-inning win over Atlanta.
Merrifield attempted to steal third base in the top of the ninth with the game tied 2-2, but Francisco Alvarez made a good throw to third base and Vientos made what appeared to be an easy steal.
Still, the Braves tried, and upon a second look, the SNY staff wasn’t convinced Merrifield was out.
“It was close. It wasn’t a good touch,” Hernandez said, reviewing the play for the first time.
“Vientos struck the left arm. The question is whether the hand made contact with the glove before touching the arm,” Cohen added.
“He’s safe,” Hernandez interjected, and Darling agreed.
After watching multiple replays, all three came to the same conclusion: Merrifield was safe.
When the umpire finally announced the call and that Merrifield was out, Cohen responded with a roar of “Wow.”
Ironically, anyone watching the game on Barry Sports South would have no doubt guessed the Braves broadcast team would not have expected the call to be overturned.
The Mets extended their winning streak to four on Thursday with a walk-off win in the bottom of the 10th inning behind great pitching from Jeff McNeil.
The Mets second baseman doubled with two outs to drive in Jose Iglesias for the win and move the Mets to within 1/2 game of the Braves in the National League wild card race.
Thursday was the first of a four-game series against the Braves and comes after the Mets snapped their season-long winning streak against the Yankees on Wednesday.
