The Mets came into Nationals Park having lost a series in Miami facing a Washington team that had won five straight narrowed the New York division lead. The team emerging as the NL East favorites was trying to withstand a challenge from the presumed favorites at the start of the season.
They came in seemingly vulnerable and four games ahead. They left stronger and seven up. In between was a set of dramatic come-from-behind victories that added to what had already been a magical second half of the regular season.
The opening 8-5 win is remembered by one image: David Wright‘s home plate fist-pump, an unleashing of stored energy waiting to explode.
He took off from first base on a line drive into right-center by Yoenis Céspedes in the seventh inning with the Mets holding a slim lead. As the ball skipped off the fence and was retrieved by Bryce Harper, Wright turned for home.
Not long ago, it was unknown if Wright, diagnosed in May with spinal stenosis, would play again.
But in the middle of a key game—looking to help his team reach the postseason for the first time since he was a rising star in 2006 — the emotion came out after he slid safely ahead of the throw from Anthony Rendon and the tag from catcher Wilson Ramos.
“What a game,” Wright said afterward. “Just, what a game.”
He could say the same when the Mets overcame a 7-1 deficit the next night. New York got two singles and three walks in the seventh inning against a pair of Nats’ relievers, giving Céspedes the chance to face a beleaguered Drew Storen with a full supply of traffic on the base paths. Céspedes connected with a double into the left field corner, clearing the bases and cutting the margin to one. Storen then walked the next three batters — forcing in the tying run and setting the stage for Kirk Nieuwenhuis’s moment in the spotlight.
His homer off Jonathan Papelbon to open the top of the eighth went into the right-field stands for the Mets’ seventh unanswered run.
Jeurys Familia induced a game-ending double play ball off the bat of Yunel Escobar. Wright fielded it on a big hop, tossed to Daniel Murphy, who fired it over to Duda at first base to stamp one of the best regular-season comebacks in franchise history and the best example of this team’s resilience.
After that, coming back from a mere 2-1 deficit in the eighth was nearly a formality. This time, the initial late-inning hero was Kelly Johnson, a July acquisition from Atlanta, who delivered the tying home run. And for the eventual game-winner, it was as simple as having Céspedes at the plate against Storen with a runner on base. The Mets hottest hitter and the Nats’ most vulnerable pitcher yielded expected results: a home run into the left-center field bullpen.
They finished the series sweep with a 5-3 win. New York secured the NL East title in Cincinnati on September 26. But it effectively ended on September 9 in Washington D.C.
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OTD 2015: Mets Stage Comeback-Filled Sweep of Nationals - metsmerizedonline.com
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