The New York Mets beat the Philadelphia Phillies on Tuesday, 6-5, on a Brandon Nimmo walk-off single. After Harrison Bader hit a game-tying homer off of Ryan Helsley, the Amazins had little hope. But five straight outs from Edwin Diaz, including strikeouts of Kyle Schwarber and Bryce Harper, set the table. Nimmo came up with the bases loaded in the bottom of the ninth and sent the Mets fans home happy.
The Phillies brought out new closer Jhoan Duran to shut the door in the bottom of the ninth. In nine appearances with Philly before Tuesday, he had allowed just one earned run. But the Mets picked up four consecutive singles to win the game. Starling Marte started it and scored the winning run, while Pete Alonso and Brett Baty helped along the way.
The Mets are now five games behind the Phillies for the NL East lead. With the result still pending for Cincy, they are now three games ahead of the Reds for the final NL Wild Card spot. A dreadful 2-14 stretch from July 28 to August 15 put their playoff chances in danger. But maybe some of the 2024 magic is back in Queens.
The Mets can now sweep the Phillies on Wednesday, and it would be their tenth consecutive win over their rivals in Queens. That dates back to last postseason, where the Amazins took the NLDS in four games thanks to a massive Francisco Lindor homer. The rivalry has been firing in recent years, with a division race on the horizon for September.
The question that will arise from this win is Helsley’s role in the bullpen moving forward. He has not been able to close games to set up Diaz effectively since joining the Mets. Will Carlos Mendoza use him in a high-leverage situation soon? Or will he get a decreased role moving forward?
