NEW YORK — Edwin Diaz couldn’t stop pacing, but he wasn’t nervous.
Elite closers like Diaz don’t get nervous. They can’t. You don’t win a $100 million contract by sweating bullets in big moments. Instead, Diaz and his colleagues must redirect the intensity — a blaring trumpet, 44,000 screaming fans, a one-run game in the ninth — into purposeful adrenaline, fuel for the fire.
But with his Mets, the hottest team in the National League, clinging to a 2-1 lead in the bottom of the eighth inning Sunday, Diaz didn’t want to let himself cool off. He had already pitched the eighth and had been asked to pitch the ninth. Diaz, who had worked multiple innings only four times this season, couldn’t lose his enthusiasm, couldn’t let his heart rate drop.
So he paced back and forth between the dugout and the clubhouse. His metal boots filled the otherwise silent room with a soft clatter as the game continued outside. A rhythm within the chaos.
“Don’t sit down,” he told reporters after the game when asked about his between-innings routine.
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In the top of the eighth inning, Diaz had been summoned uncharacteristically early by his manager, Carlos Mendoza, to face the Philadelphia Phillies’ best hitters. Mendoza later explained that he wanted his best player against the Philadelphia Phillies’ best players: Kyle Schwarber, Trea Turner, Bryce Harper.
And so, the lights at Citi Field went out and the first notes of Diaz’s famous entrance song, “Narco,” blared over the stadium’s loudspeakers. Many fans, not expecting the star closer to arrive an inning early, raised their arms in excitement. Diaz then retired the batters, who struck out Schwarber and Harper, on 11 pitches.
As Diaz descended the dugout steps, the roar of Citi Field behind him, Mendoza informed his closer that the ninth inning was his, too. A day after recording four outs, Diaz was asked to work two innings. A loss would cut the Mets’ postseason lead to a single game over the Braves, who host the Mets for a season-deciding series that begins Tuesday.
Desperate times called for desperate measures. Mendoza pushed the boundaries and sealed the deal.
It worked. In the ninth, Diaz doubled over, but didn’t break. His control wavered, he gave up two walks, allowing the go-ahead run to reach second with two outs. That brought Mendoza out of the dugout for a meeting. The manager offered strategic advice and words of encouragement. Reliever Ryne Stanek hurried to prepare in the Mets’ bullpen. Diaz would not face Schwarber again, who was emerging as a prospect. The Phillies, who would clinch the NL East title with a win, sensed an opportunity.
Diaz slammed it shut.
With two strikes, he launched a 98.2 mph fastball that got past Kody Clemens and got him out to end the game. It was the kind of fastball that seems to gain velocity as it flies toward the plate, the kind of fastball that Diaz has made a career and a fortune out of. On this night, it gave the Mets their sixth win in their last seven tries.
“We’ve been protecting him all year,” Mendoza said after the game, referring to how the club has been cautious with its use of Diaz. “But now it’s time for the big guys.”
The win capped a rollicking homestand in Queens for a surging Mets team that sits in the second NL wild-card spot (by virtue of a tiebreaker over the Diamondbacks) and two games ahead of Atlanta with six games remaining in the season. New York went 6-1 against the Nationals and Phillies in its final seven home games of the season, despite the team’s best player, shortstop Francisco Lindor, being unavailable because of a back issue.
Lindor’s status remains uncertain. He participated in baseball activities on Sunday but didn’t look particularly comfortable. If he does play again this regular season, it won’t be at full strength. The shortstop, who will likely finish second in the NL MVP race, admitted as much. But the Mets haven’t missed a beat in his absence.
Had the Phillies won on Sunday, they would have spent the night spraying the visiting clubhouse with champagne. Instead, the Mets forced their division rivals to wait a few days. Brandon Nimmo delivered the knockout blow, a go-ahead homer in the sixth inning off likely NL Cy Young Award finalist Zack Wheeler. Otherwise, Wheeler was fantastic that night; his only other run came on a Tyrone Taylor RBI single in the second. A trio of little-known Mets pitchers — Tylor Megill, Phil Maton and Jose Butto — traded zeros with Wheeler before handing the ball to Diaz.
Megill entered the Mets’ Opening Day rotation only after Kodai Senga was injured. Maton was a small acquisition before the July trade deadline. Butto is a rookie who began the year as an occasional starter but has blossomed in the bullpen. All are great success stories, but none exemplifies the spirit of these Mets more than Diaz.
After signing his landmark contract in November 2022, Diaz tore his ACL in dramatic fashion during the 2023 World Baseball Classic, and his road back to glory was a bumpy one. The two-time All-Star struggled mightily at times during the first half of this season. A four-run implosion against the hapless Miami Marlins in mid-May raised his ERA to 5.50. After that game, Diaz broke down in tears in the visiting clubhouse. Then a shoulder impingement sent him to the injured list. Reed Garrett became the de facto closer.
But like the Mets, Diaz stayed the course and rediscovered his rhythm in the second half. As the Mets have regained relevance and have gotten themselves into the postseason race, Diaz has shined. He has a 2.42 ERA since the start of July. He has allowed just one run in 11 appearances in September. His two-inning performance on Sunday only confirmed the obvious.
“I’ve been feeling really good,” he said. “I’ve been recovering from my shoulder injury at the beginning of the season, but right now I feel the rhythm, the rhythm I want to have.”
The Mets are feeling the rhythm, too.