Ronny Mauricio picked a good time for his first home run of the season.
The Mets’ ninth batter and starting shortstop in Friday’s 4-3 win at the Los Angeles Angels took José Fermin‘s 94 mph pitch deep to right-center field on a 1-1 count with one out, giving New York (11-21) enough of a window to complete a four-run comeback in Anaheim, Calif.
“It feels great to be able to help the team in a situation like that,” Mauricio said through an interpreter. “… We’re coming out here, we’re working, we’re doing everything that we have to do to go out in front.”
A day that started with president of baseball operations David Stearns‘ published comments about not intending to “make a change” at manager, followed by Carlos Mendoza‘s on-record remarks about the phone call, ended in a gutsy victory.
“It says a lot, especially after what we’ve been going through,” Mendoza said. “You get down early in that first inning — that two-run homer out of the gate — but they fought back and they found a way. That’s a good sign — when you’re able to come back and lock it down, good at-bats, continue to just create some traffic … it was a solid team win.”
With two more games at the Angels (12-21), led by Saturday’s 9:38 p.m. start on SNY, the Mets have an opportunity to build as the initial series and overall nine-game road trip begins.
“Every win means a lot, especially when we’ve dug ourselves into a hole like this,” said Marcus Semien, whose two-RBI single with two outs in the sixth inning capped the Mets’ three-run rally to tie the game at 3-3. “Especially a comeback win on the road — that’s big. It’s big for the group.
From Christian Scott‘s career-high-tying eight strikeouts in a bounce-back start to the timely hits and the Mets’ four-man bullpen consecutively retiring the final 12 batters, Mendoza saw his team dig deep.
“I think they’re all different, but every time you get an opportunity to win a game like that — we haven’t been able to win games like that when you get down 3-0 and the feeling’s like, ‘All right,'” he said. “Today, it wasn’t the case. It was something different — the energy in the dugout, the guys playing loose, the guys playing their game and we saw that. And it started with Scotty — when he got punched, he punched back. So, it kind of set the tone there.”
“We always feel like we’re in the game,” Semien added. “It’s nine innings of baseball. We’re all major league players, so we’re working hard to scratch and claw to get back into the game.”