NEW YORK — Brandon Nimmo turned toward Citi Field’s crowd, the one he petitioned for a few days ago, the one that responded by filling every seat as the fifth-largest regular season gathering in the stadium’s history. He had just hit a single to score the go-ahead run. Everyone then saw the emotion run through Nimmo as he emphatically made the club’s celebratory hit gesture for his teammates in the dugout and allowed himself a wholehearted roar.
“It felt unbelievable today, the energy, the atmosphere, the whole stadium was packed and they were all into it,” Nimmo said. “I alluded to it beforehand, that we were going to have playoff baseball here, and that’s what it felt like.”
An announced attendance of 44,152 Saturday watched the New York Mets beat the Philadelphia Phillies, 6-3, and maintain a two-game lead for the final playoff spot. Seven games remain. One left at home. The expectation for Sunday night is another big crowd, possibly a second-straight sellout. The Mets are hot. Since June, they’ve been hot. It only makes sense for the stands to be packed.
Also, it might be the final home game at Citi Field for Pete Alonso, a pending free agent and a franchise cornerstone.
“It’s not going to be his last game here,” Mets manager Carlos Mendoza said. “We’re expecting to be back here this year and play more games here.”
Confidence.
It’s not just coming from the skipper.
Winners of six out of eight games since Francisco Lindor, their MVP candidate, went down with a back injury, the Mets are oozing with confidence.
And considering this stretch, how they again bounced back Saturday after a lopsided loss the night before, why shouldn’t they be?
The best-case scenario for Lindor seems to be a return Tuesday, when the Mets start their series against the Atlanta Braves, Mendoza said. Lindor hit from both sides during batting practice and fielded ground balls, among other baseball activities. Lindor said Saturday that he felt better than he did the day before. It sounds like progress, but no one is quite making guarantees.
Similarly, Kodai Senga’s status seemed encouraging, though no official plan was shared. Senga, limited to one start this season, threw 15 pitches (eight strikes) and allowed one walk with two strikeouts in a one-inning rehab start with Triple-A Syracuse, which scored eight runs in a long bottom half of the inning. If Senga makes an appearance when he’s eligible to come off the injured list next week, it’s expected to be a short one.
A reminder: That’s the Mets’ best player and the Mets’ best pitcher.
Yet they’re still mostly winning games.
“He’s a huge part of this team, but everyone has kind of stepped up around him and has been able to contribute,” Nimmo said of the club’s success without Lindor.
With his next sentence, Nimmo mentioned Luisangel Acuña, who has filled in admirably at shortstop despite just getting called up last week. Acuña hit another home run Saturday, his third. He’s played a smooth shortstop, too. All this, for someone who said he wasn’t counting on joining the Mets in September, during the playoff push.
“You don’t get that every day,” Nimmo said.
Nimmo’s list of players could’ve kept going. He could’ve mentioned Sean Manaea (seven innings, three runs, three hits and six strikeouts in another terrific start Saturday). Or Edwin Díaz, who recorded the final four outs, going through the top of the Phillies’ batting order to do so. Or a handful of others.
They’re a confident bunch. And Francisco Alvarez probably leads the team in confidence. He has “The Best” tattooed on his neck. He doesn’t walk to the batter’s box, he swaggers there. He showed up to his postgame news conference with snazzy sunglasses atop his head. Veterans like Nimmo said they noticed Alvarez’s confidence from day one.
“He loves the big moments,” Nimmo said. “He’s almost foaming at the mouth to get up there.”
Now, Alvarez has resumed delivering in important spots. A handful of weeks while in the middle of what he described as the worst slump of his young career, Alvarez said he didn’t feel powerful, which was concerning, coming from him. Things have changed. Alvarez continued to work with coaches to improve his timing and make better use of his hips. Over his last 30 plate appearances, Alvarez has hit five home runs, including a solo home run in the second inning Saturday to tie the score at 1-1. Later, he added a two-run double in the seventh inning to make it 5-2.
“I feel very good,” Alvarez said of his level of confidence. “I feel more powerful.”
When celebrating his double at second base, Alvarez jumped a few inches off the ground, rivaling Nimmo’s reaction earlier in the inning and similarly feeding off the moment.
They want more of them. They expect more of them.
“I’ve been here a while now; I want to see winning baseball, I want to see playoffs,” Nimmo said. “It was just a culmination of where we’re at, in my career, in this season, and it was a big moment. And I love that.”
(Photo of Brandon Nimmo: Jim McIsaac / Getty Images)
