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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Ryan S. Clark
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Kristen Shilton
There’s an ancient South Florida proverb about numbers: Not one. Not two. Not three. Not four.
Opening the Eastern Conference finals with five goals in Game 1 on Tuesday showed that at least for one game the Florida Panthers could find a breakthrough against the Carolina Hurricanes. Only for Thursday to arrive and the Panthers to once again post five more goals in a 5-0 win to take a 2-0 series lead before heading back to Sunrise for Game 3.
How did both teams perform? Who are the players to watch next game, and what are the big questions facing the Hurricanes and Panthers ahead of Game 3 on Saturday?
Say what you will about the offside goal being akin to Charlie Brown getting the football pulled out from under him by Lucy. While it’s possible that the disallowed goal could have provided momentum, there were other things that suggested the Hurricanes were going to struggle.
Under Rod Brind’Amour, they’ve become one of the teams that consistently generates the highest number of shots per game. They entered Game 2 averaging 33.2 shots per game, yet they hadn’t even cracked double digits until there was 14 minutes remaining in the third period. Natural Stat Trick’s metrics showed they had two high-danger scoring chances midway through the third period, and after giving up seven goals throughout the entirety of the second round, they’ve allowed 10 goals in the first two games.
Or view it this way: The Panthers had more goals than the Hurricanes had high-danger scoring chances. — Clark
What more is there to say about Florida, really? The term “clinic” doesn’t seem to cover it. The Panthers have done it all against Carolina in these first two games.
Thursday was another dominant performance by the reigning Stanley Cup champions in an offensive and defensive effort that requires no notes. The Panthers set a tone early with Gustav Forsling‘s goal just 1:17 into the game and never relented. The Hurricanes were averaging over 33 shots per night in the postseason (second most among playoff teams), and Florida limited their chances to seven shots through the first two periods alone — while the Panthers pummeled Carolina with 16 shots and four goals in the same span. It was enough to chase Frederik Andersen from the net, when he was replaced by Pyotr Kochetkov with a four-goal deficit.
The Hurricanes’ top scorers were simply no match for Florida’s attack or a locked-in Sergei Bobrovsky, who, while not heavily challenged, was a match for all comers in a 16-save shutout. The way Florida is playing right now, one has to wonder how the Hurricanes can get back in this series as the teams shift down to Florida. — Shilton
Three Stars of Game 2
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Panthers go up 3-0 on Sam Bennett’s power-play goal
The Panthers threaten to run away with it after Sam Bennett’s power-play goal makes it 3-0 in the first period.
He had two goals and a helper, as the Panthers dominated the Hurricanes in Game 2. This is Bennett’s second career 3-plus point playoff game and second career multigoal playoff game.
2. Team defense
The Hurricanes were averaging 33.2 shots per game this postseason, second in the playoffs to the Colorado Avalanche. But the Panthers, with their efficient and suffocating defense, held Carolina to five shots in the first 30 minutes of the game. Near the end of the second period, the fans at Lenovo Center were growing tired of it and started chanting “shoot the puck” at their team. Carolina did have more shot volume in the third period, ending with 17, but nothing got past Sergei Bobrovsky.
3. Offside reviews and coaching tactics
Normally, I’m not the biggest fan of lengthy offside reviews. I wish there was a timer — if you can’t make the call in 90 seconds, then the call on the ice stands. But the Florida Panthers executed one to perfection in Game 2. Up 3-0 in the second period, the Hurricanes scored, but thinking the play was offside, the Panthers called a timeout to buy more time to see every angle available, eventually calling for the challenge. It was indeed determined to be offside and the goal was taken away. — Arda Öcal
Players to watch in Game 3
Let’s start here with the Hurricanes. There’s no shortage of options. Part of the reason Svechnikov is in this space is because he leads the Hurricanes in goals this postseason. The rest of it has more to do with whether the Canes can rely on a certain postseason pattern for Svechnikov holding true. After going goalless in Games 2 and 3 against the New Jersey Devils in the first round, he responded with a hat trick. He didn’t score in the first two games against the Washington Capitals only to then score a goal in three straight games. Could Svechnikov respond by grabbing at least one goal in Game 3? Or are the Canes in store for more offensive struggles once they arrive in Sunrise? — Clark
The Panthers’ instigator had been quiet since Florida’s first-round series win over Tampa Bay, recording just five assists in eight games heading into Game 2 against Carolina. But Tkachuk looked more like himself Thursday, agitating the Hurricanes and making his physical presence felt. He also emerged early on the score sheet, registering an assist on Gustav Forsling’s game-opening salvo and adding a goal — Tkachuk’s first in 10 games — in the opening period to extend Florida’s lead to 2-0. It was a testament to how commanding Tkachuk’s line was with Sam Bennett (two goals and an assist) and Carter Verhaeghe (three assists) that he was able to finally appear as the Tkachuk of old. If this was indeed Tkachuk’s reawakening after a slow stretch, then the Hurricanes better be well aware of Tkachuk going forward because he was as dangerous as ever at both ends of the ice in Game 2. — Shilton
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Matthew Tkachuk taps it in to pad the Panthers’ lead
Matthew Tkachuk sneaks the puck past the goalie to pad the Panthers’ lead against the Hurricanes.
Big questions for Game 3
What’s the response to their worst playoff loss this year?
Several questions will be asked when it comes to what adjustments can be made before Game 3. Could one of them be about what the Hurricanes must do to get off to a stronger start? Allowing two first-period goals in Game 1 already presented the reality that the Panthers were going to remain aggressive. But to then give up the first goal less than two minutes into the first before giving up three in total in an opening frame that saw the Panthers record just five shots on net? That only adds to the degree of difficulty for a team that has now lost two straight playoff games after losing two postseason games in total over the first two rounds, especially when the last time the Hurricanes were down 0-2 to the Panthers in a playoff series was during the 2023 Eastern Conference finals in which they were swept. — Clark
Will Sam Reinhart be back at full strength for the Panthers?
Florida saw one of its top skaters exit in the first period after Sebastian Aho delivered a hit that forced Reinhart out for the remainder of the game with a lower-body injury. While Florida had Game 2 well in hand even before Reinhart became unavailable, it’s safe to say the Panthers are a better team when he’s in the lineup. Reinhart’s status going forward is significant for Florida overall. Reinhart paced the Panthers with 39 goals and 81 points in the regular season and notched 11 points in 13 postseason tilts going into Game 2. Florida must hope that Reinhart isn’t just available for Game 3 (and beyond), but that he’s not too banged up to continue operating at a high level. — Shilton
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