Mets' Carlos Mendoza on perfect homestand: 'There’s a lot of good things happening'

Down 3-2 heading into the bottom of the 10^th inning against the Philadelphia Phillies, the Mets’ six-game winning streak and hopes of a possible perfect homestand seemed to be dwindling at Citi Field on Wednesday.

At least outside of the Mets’ dugout, that is.

Inside the dugout, the Mets never lost faith, and their fundamentally sound play in the field and in the batter’s box paid off as they came back to win 4-3, finishing off a perfect homestand and a three-game sweep of the NL East-rival Phillies.

“That’s a huge team win there,” Carlos Mendoza said afterward.

And that statement couldn’t be more true, as it felt like every player on the roster contributed in one way or another, whether it was Juan Soto gunning down Nick Castellanos at home plate in the eighth, or Max Kranickrelieving a cramping Edwin Diaz to escape a bases-loaded, one-out jam in the 10^th, or Pete Alonso coming up clutch with a game-tying double that led to Starling Marte’s walk-off single.

Baseball is a game of fundamentals, and right now, perhaps no one is playing better fundamental baseball than these Mets.

“Today is a perfect example of a lot of winning plays, a lot of fundamental plays,” Mendoza said. “…Outfielders getting behind the ball on shallow fly balls with runners on third base, Soto making a huge throw at the plate, [Hayden] Senger not only catching the ball but making the tag, Pete being in the right spot with cutoffs. There’s a lot of good things happening. There’s a lot of good at-bats, getting big hits, walks, and then from a pitching standpoint, not giving in.

“There’s a lot to like about the way the guys are playing.”

While players like Soto and Alonso are expected to come up huge in big moments given their salaries and stature within the game, the unheralded Kranick played a huge role on Wednesday. After Diaz had to come out of the game due to what the team said was cramps in his left hip, Kranick faced a bases-loaded one-out jam against a Phillies lineup that has the potential to have things snowball.

But Kranick, who has been terrific so far this season to the tune of a 2.81 ERA, stopped any potential avalanche before it could even start, getting Bryson Stott to fly out weakly to center before Max Kepler followed suit to right.

Kranick’s magic act only fueled the Mets’ fire heading into the bottom of the inning.

“For Kranick to keep it there and what’s coming for us offensively when you see it’s Soto, it’s Pete, it’s [Mark] Vientos, it’s [Brandon] Nimmo,” Mendoza said. “So you’re like ‘We’ve got a chance, we’ve just got to keep it somewhat close,’ and that’s what Kranick did. Coming into the bottom of the 10^th, we liked our chances. There was a good feeling in that dugout, and I’m glad Pete came through and then the other guys and then Marte there.”

It was almost fitting that it was Marte who walked the Mets off with a win, as he’s perhaps the perfect embodiment of what the Mets have become: a player putting the team first, and someone who has gone from being a full-time outfielder to a part-time DH, yet he still did his job when called upon.

“Not an easy role for him now after being an elite player in this league for a long time,” Mendoza said. “…At some point he’s going to contribute, and sure enough he did it today.”