WIL TO WIN
Flores’ walk- off caps comeback from 5-0 deficit
Where there’s a Wilmer, there’s a way. Down 5-0 after three innings, the Mets refused to give up Saturday against the A’s at Citi Field. After rallying to pull even in the eighth, Wilmer Flores capped an Amazin’ finish with a walk-off home run for a 6-5 victory.
It is hard to envision the Mets reaching the postseason for a third straight year. It is hard to imagine the Mets leaping multiple teams, overcoming numerous injuries and reversing so much of what has gone wrong for so much of an unexpectedly disappointing season.
After four straight wins, it is a little easier to see the Mets keeping their miraculous hopes alive a little bit longer. It is a lot easier when you see Wilmer Flores rounding the bases after hitting a walk-off home run at Citi Field, reviving one of the best memories in recent team history.
Despite giving up four runs in the first inning and trailing by five entering the sixth, the Mets kept their winning streak intact with an unlikely comeback Saturday night, with Flores delivering a two-out home run in the ninth to seal the 6-5 win over the A’s.
“We know there’s still a lot of baseball left,” Jose Reyes said. “We know it’s not going to be easy, but we believe.”
Flores, who crushed a fastball from Simon Castro to left, jogged to a mob at home plate for the second time in his career — the first since his memorable shot to beat the Nationals just before the 2015 trade deadline, when the infielder instantly became a fan favorite after tearing up on the field, believing he was leaving the Mets.
“As a hitter, you don’t want to try and do too much, but at the same time you want to do something, so you have to try and control that,” Flores said. “We didn’t give up. Every inning we were battling.
“We’re not thinking about [selling], we’re thinking about how to win. We’re not thinking about we’re some games out, or we’re not playing good. every time we’re out there we’re thinking about winning.”
A large crowd of nearly 40,000 fans had been lured to the stadium early to receive a Noah Syndergaard bobblehead giveaway, and it looked like they would be able to cut their evenings short, watching another Mets starter failing to make up for the ace’s lengthy absence.
Zack Wheeler gave Oakland the lead two pitches into the game, allowing a leadoff homer to Matt Joyce, and needed 36 pitches to end the first inning after giving up four runs.
Wheeler surrendered another solo homer in the third to Matt Chapman, but held Oakland without a run over the next two frames. Wheeler, who is 0-4 with a 7.05 ERA over his past six starts, called his performance “unacceptable,” lasting five innings, allowing five runs, seven hits and four walks, while striking out six.
Manager Terry Collins took it easier on the struggling righthander.
“Zack Wheeler could’ve let that game get out of control and he did not,” Collins said. “I told him when I took him out, ‘I know we’re down 5-0, but you kept it 5-0 … and allowed us to get back in the game.’ I know it doesn’t seem like much … but he battled through it.”
When Wheeler left, the Mets’ offense emerged, with Flores opening the sixth with a double. Jay Bruce followed with a two-run homer to center — his team-leading 25th of the season — and Reyes delivered his second triple, scoring on a Travis d’Arnaud single to make it 5-3. Michael Conforto then cut the deficit to one with a two-out double to left.
The Mets’ bullpen of Josh Smoker, Josh Edgin and Hansel Robles combined for four innings of scoreless relief, making it possible for the Mets to tie the game in the eighth, when d’Arnaud hit a two-out double and pinch-hitter Lucas Duda drove him in with a single up the middle.
Then came Flores, a late July hero once more.
A game that should have gotten away belonged to the Mets. What seemed impossible had been achieved.
“There’s two months left,” Asdrubal Cabrera said. “Nothing’s done yet. We got to keep playing good baseball, and then we’ll see where we are.”