Mets’ magic strikes again in G1 win over Phils
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Jeff Passan, ESPN
PHILADELPHIA — The New York Mets exist for the moments that make those of lesser stock and constitution crumble. The late innings are their playground, the comeback their wheelhouse, and no matter how many times they pull off this magic trick, the prestige won’t be any less impressive.
The latest came early Saturday evening, in Game 1 of the National League Division Series against the Philadelphia Phillies. Feckless and shut out for seven innings, the Mets turned the eighth into death by a half-dozen cuts for the Phillies, dropping five runs and silencing Citizens Bank Park in an eventual 6-2 victory that stole home-field advantage in the five-game series and continued New York’s charmed week.
It’s an enchanted season, really, but over the most recent six-day stretch, the Mets used eighth- and ninth-inning comebacks to clinch a playoff spot, won the deciding game in their wild-card series with a ninth-inning rebirth and blitzed a pair of All-Star Phillies relievers to secure the latest win.
“This is something that we’ve done throughout the year,” Mets manager Carlos Mendoza said. “When we’re clicking as a team offensively, there’s so many things that we do. We put the ball in play, we use the whole field and we’re not thinking too big. And we did it today again.”
All of it started after Phillies ace Zack Wheeler left following a brilliant seven-inning outing. Over 111 pitches, Wheeler generated a career-high 30 swing-and-misses and limited the Mets to one hit and no runs. When Wheeler was pulled before the eighth, manager Rob Thomson took comfort in having a well-rested bullpen, with the second-seeded Phillies having last played before the calendar turned to October.
He turned to right-hander Jeff Hoffman, who got ahead of Francisco Alvarez 0-1 before he roped a single. Hoffman was ahead of Francisco Lindor 0-2 before throwing four straight balls. He was ahead of Mark Vientos 0-2 and left up a slider that Vientos yanked to left to score the Mets’ first run and tie the game at 1. In came left-hander Matt Strahm, who was ahead of Brandon Nimmo 0-2 and couldn’t sneak a fastball by him. Another single put the Mets ahead 2-1.
Pete Alonso, the hero from the wild-card series comeback against the Brewers, fought back from an 0-2 count to drive in a run with a sacrifice fly. Jose Iglesias turned an 0-2 count — and seven consecutive foul balls that followed it — into a single. And J.D. Martinez followed with another single and Starling Marte another sacrifice fly to make it 5-1.
“I feel like we’ve been playing playoff baseball for three or four weeks now,” Nimmo said. “Our season has depended on it. We’ve been doing that for a while now, and just trying to focus on whatever gets the job done and whatever gets us a W at the end of the day. When you’re only down one run, you’re able to think small and try to push that one run across, and then just keep doing it. I thought what we did, you could put on a highlight reel. This is just good baseball without hitting a home run.”
The Mets, Martinez said, are “stubborn” in their approach. And it’s the sort of thing, he said, that can lead to innings like the six-run flurry against Atlanta in Game 161 or the four-run ambush of Game 3 against the Brewers.
“Don’t think with the pitcher, don’t guess,” Martinez said. “Just lock in with the approach and stick to it. Live and die by it. You went up there with a plan for a reason. It’s easy to go, boom, boom, and all of a sudden, it’s like, ‘Oh, my god. Abandoned plan.'”
Lindor, the Mets’ leader, noticed himself falling into that trap during his plate appearance in the eighth. He had hit the go-ahead, ninth-inning home run in Game 161 when down a run, and the Mets were there again. He swung at an 0-2 slider in the dirt and just got a piece of it to stay alive.
“For one second, I had a feeling of, ‘Let me get this done,'” Lindor said. “And then I kept on hearing the guys and I found myself thinking, ‘Hey, just pass the baton. Don’t try to do nothing crazy.’ Everybody had that mentality throughout the whole inning. Nobody was trying to be bigger in the moment. Everybody was just trying to embrace what was happening.”
What’s happening is a team that was once 24-35 is now two wins from its first NL Championship Series since 2015. And it happened in a game that started as poorly as it could. After Wheeler carved through the Mets in the first inning on 11 pitches, New York starter Kodai Senga, pitching in the major leagues for the first time since July 29, allowed a home run to Kyle Schwarber on his third pitch.
Senga settled down and looked good over two innings, and the Mets’ bullpen — bulk man David Peterson and right-handers Reed Garrett and Phil Maton — matched Wheeler zero for zero. Only when Wheeler left did the Phillies’ night crumble, prompting questions about whether the layoff hindered their relief pitchers.
“I don’t think so,” Thomson said. “They pitched on Wednesday, and they threw the ball fairly well. I’d have to look at the tape. It’s probably about execution and leaving some pitches in the middle of the zone. The walk to Lindor didn’t help, that’s for sure.”
It was simply one moment in an inning of pain for a Phillies team that in its last meeting with the Mets dropped two of three games and squandered an otherworldly start from Wheeler. In Game 2 on Sunday, the Mets will return to a normal pitching plan, starting Luis Severino, while the Phillies will counter with Cristopher Sanchez, whose numbers at the Bank this season have been the best of any starter on the team.
“It’s not going to work out all the time,” Nimmo said. “And that’s a reality. And you have to be OK with that in baseball, but you hope over the long term it’s going to work out. And so right now when you have games like Atlanta, you have games like Milwaukee, it makes you believe in yourself even more.”
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Andrea Adelson, ESPN Senior Writer
Notre Dame‘s Marcus Freeman and Penn State‘s James Franklin are aware they are on the brink of making history in the College Football Playoff Semifinal at the Capital One Orange Bowl on Thursday.
The winner will become the first Black head coach to take a team to the national championship game. Both were asked about that possibility during their respective news conferences Saturday previewing their matchup.
Franklin said it reminded him of Super Bowl XLI between Tony Dungy and Lovie Smith in 2007, the first Super Bowl featuring Black head coaches. Franklin was the offensive coordinator at Kansas State at the time, coaching for Ron Prince, another Black head coach.
“I remember thinking that, as a coach, how significant that was in the profession, and how significant that was for young coaches coming up in the profession, to see those guys in that role,” Franklin said. “I also remember, at that time, there were a lot of conversations about, ‘Will this impact the profession? Will this impact opportunities for guys?'”
At the time, there were six Black head coaches in college football, Franklin said. There are now 16 head coaches in 134 FBS programs, something Franklin described as progress.
“I know some people will say, ‘Well, that that’s not a huge increase,’ but it is an increase,” Franklin said. “At the end of the day, does this create opportunities for more guys to get in front of athletic directors? Does this create opportunities for search firms? I hope so. I think at the end of the day, you just want an opportunity, and you want to be able to earn it through your work and through your actions. I take a lot of pride in it.”
When Freeman was asked, he made sure to note that he is also half-Korean, a nod to his mother. But he also understands the significance of the moment.
“It’s a reminder that you are a representation for so many others that look like you, and I don’t take that for granted,” Freeman said. “I’m going to work tirelessly to be the best version of me, and it’s great, because even the guys in our program can understand, ‘Don’t put a ceiling on what you can be and what you can do.’
“Now, with that being said, it’s not about me. It’s about us. More than anything, I want to achieve team glory with this program.”
Freeman was also asked how he can inspire other young coaches who are watching him on this stage.
“If you want to impact the young people in this profession, you probably should do things to help them, and those are things that maybe after the season I could focus on trying to do,” Freeman said. “I want to be a representation. But that’s not enough. If you want to truly help some people, then you got to be one to make decisions and actions that truly help people.”
Franklin said he is honored to be in position to coach against Freeman in the semifinal.
“I’m honored to be able to compete against Notre Dame. Most importantly, I’m honored to represent Penn State and the young men in that locker room,” Franklin said. “For me to sit here and say that it’s not important, it’s not significant, that would not be accurate.”
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Adam Rittenberg, ESPN Senior Writer
Penn State All-American defensive end Abdul Carter is working back from an apparent left arm injury, and while coach James Franklin said it’s “too early” to determine Carter’s status for the College Football Playoff semifinal against Notre Dame, there’s optimism about his return.
“At this point, I don’t think there’s anything stopping him from playing, but it’s going to come down to, how is he able to play?” Franklin said Saturday. “We’ll see. But his mentality is great. He’s excited about this week, but it’s too early to say at this stage.”
Carter left the Vrbo Fiesta Bowl against Boise State on Tuesday in the first quarter, not recording any statistics before exiting and not returning. No. 6 seed Penn State won 31-14 to advance to the Capital One Orange Bowl, where it will face No. 7 seed Notre Dame on Thursday night.
Carter, 6-foot-3 and 252 pounds, became Penn State’s first consensus All-America selection since Saquon Barkley in 2017. He also was named Big Ten Defensive Player of the Year and Defensive Lineman of the Year. ESPN’s Mel Kiper Jr. lists Carter as the No. 2 prospect for the 2025 NFL draft, behind Heisman Trophy winner Travis Hunter of Colorado.
Carter posted a social media message Tuesday of Darth Vader in a bacta tank from the movie “Rogue One: A Star Wars Story,” indicating his recovery process from the injury.
“He’s doing great. His attitude is great. His mentality has been really good,” Franklin said. “We’ll see, but he’s taken the right approach and mentality, and it’s really going to come down to how he feels and how much practice he’s going to get during the week.”
Franklin does not usually provide injury updates about players who are not out for the season but understands the attention around Carter, who leads Penn State in sacks (11) and tackles for loss (21.5) and ranks second in quarterback hurries (8) and fourth in total tackles (63). A Philadelphia native, Carter moved from linebacker to defensive end this season under new defensive coordinator Tom Allen. He has 22 career sacks, 37.5 tackles for loss, 5 forced fumbles, 1 interception and 13 passes defended.
Penn State players are off Saturday before returning to practice Sunday.
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Andrea Adelson, ESPN Senior Writer
Notre Dame coach Marcus Freeman says his team has to “expedite the preparation” with fewer days than Penn State to get ready for the College Football Playoff semifinal at the Capital One Orange Bowl on Thursday.
During a news conference Saturday in South Bend, Indiana, Freeman was asked about the challenges presented after the team’s quarterfinal game against Georgia in the Allstate Sugar Bowl was delayed one day following a deadly terrorist attack in New Orleans.
The Irish beat the Bulldogs 23-10 on Thursday, while Penn State beat Boise State 31-14 in its quarterfinal game Tuesday.
Freeman pointed out that his team came out of the Georgia game relatively healthy and is proceeding as if this is a normal game week. Notre Dame’s only significant injury was suffered by backup tight end Cooper Flanagan, who sustained a foot injury that will keep him out of the rest of the playoffs.
“How you handle the unpredictable things in life will determine the success, and so the greatest thing about this week is it’s just a normal game week,” Freeman said. “Now what we’ve got to do is utilize the time. We have to expedite the preparation because what you miss in terms of not having those couple days is the mental preparation of knowing exactly what to do. We’ve got to make sure we utilize every hour of the day to capitalize off of the preparation. For us, this is just game week.”
Freeman has led the Irish to the semifinals after a Week 2 loss at Northern Illinois that could have derailed the season. Instead, they treated every week like a playoff game and are now on the brink of playing for a national championship.
As a result, there is far more noise surrounding the program heading into the semifinal, something Freeman acknowledged. But he also knows it is important not to deviate from what got the Irish to this moment.
“I think it’s human nature to enjoy people saying good things about you,” Franklin said. “It’s human nature. But we’ve talked all year about being misfits. That’s what we have to continue to be. You have to make the choice to either waste time listening to people tell you how good you are or you’re going to put your time into preparing for this opportunity right in front of us. That’s been my message loud and clear, and we all have to make that choice.”
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