Edwin Díaz and the Mets leave the Phillies behind as the final stretch into the postseason continues: “Now is the time for the big boys”

NEW YORK — Edwin Díaz couldn't stop pacing. But he wasn't nervous.

Elite closers like Díaz don't get nervous. They can't. You don't earn a $100 million contract by sweating it out in big moments. Instead, Díaz and his ilk must channel the intensity – a blaring trumpet, 44,000 screaming fans, a one-score game in the ninth inning – into purposeful adrenaline, fuel for the fire.

But his Mets, the best team in the National League, held a 2-1 lead in the second half of the eighth inning on Sunday, and Díaz refused to let it cool down. He had already pitched the eighth inning and was now set to throw the ninth. Díaz, who had only pitched multiple innings four times this season, could not let the tension drop and his pulse rate not drop.

So he walked back and forth between the dugout and the clubhouse. His metal cleats filled the otherwise quiet room with a soft clatter, while the ball game continued outside. A rhythm in the chaos.

“No sitting down,” he told reporters after the game when asked about his routine between innings.

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In the eighth inning, Díaz was called up unusually early by his manager Carlos Mendoza to face the Philadelphia Phillies' best players. Mendoza later explained that he wanted to put his best man against their best players: Kyle Schwarber, Trea Turner, Bryce Harper.

And so the lights went out at Citi Field and the first notes of Díaz's famous entrance song “Narco” rang out from the stadium's speakers. Many fans, who hadn't expected the star closer to show up an inning early, raised their arms in excitement. Díaz then put the team out of action with strikeouts of Schwarber and Harper after 11 pitches.

As Díaz descended the steps to the dugout as Citi Field roared behind him, Mendoza told his closer that the ninth inning was his, too. A day after he got four outs, Díaz was asked to pitch 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 starting Tuesday.

Desperate times call for desperate measures. Mendoza pushed himself to the limit and came closer.

It worked. In the ninth inning, Díaz slumped but didn't break. His control wavered, he allowed two walks and the decisive run to reach second base with two outs. That brought Mendoza out of the dugout to a huddle. The manager gave strategic advice and words of encouragement. Reliever Ryne Stanek hurried to get ready in the Mets' bullpen. Díaz would not have to face Schwarber again, who was on the schedule. The Phillies, who would win the NL East with a win, sensed an opportunity.

Díaz slammed the door.

With two strikes, he blasted a 98.2 mph fastball past Kody Clemens to end the game. It was the kind of fastball that somehow seems to pick up speed on the way to the plate, the kind of fastball that Díaz has made a career and a fortune off of. That night, it gave the Mets their sixth win in their last seven tries.

“We have protected him all year,” Mendoza explained after the game, pointing out that the club was cautious about Díaz's use. “But now it's time for a big boy.”

The victory capped a roaring home day in Queens for a surging Mets team that now finds itself in the second NL wild-card spot (thanks to a tiebreaker against the Diamondbacks) and two games ahead of Atlanta with six games left in the season. New York won its final seven home games of the season, 6-1, against the Nationals and Phillies, despite the team's best player, shortstop Francisco Lindor, being unavailable due to a back injury.

Lindor's status remains uncertain. He did engage in baseball activities on Sunday but didn't look particularly relaxed. When he returns to play this regular season, he won't be at his best. The shortstop, who likely finishes second in the race for NL MVP, has admitted as much. But the Mets haven't missed a beat during his absence.

Had the Phillies won on Sunday, they would have spent the night spraying champagne in the visitors' locker room. Instead, the Mets forced their division rivals to wait a few days. Brandon Nimmo hit the knockout blow, a home run to lead off the sixth inning against likely NL Cy Young finalist Zack Wheeler. Wheeler was otherwise fantastic that night; his only other run allowed an RBI single by Tyrone Taylor in the second. A trio of unknown Mets pitchers – Tylor Megill, Phil Maton and José Butto – exchanged zeroes with Wheeler before handing the ball off to Díaz.

Megill only made it into the Mets' opening rotation after Kodai Senga was sidelined with an injury. Maton was a minor addition before the trade deadline in July. Butto is a rookie who began the year as a spot starter but thrived in the bullpen. All are great success stories, but none embodies the spirit of these Mets better than Díaz.

After signing his landmark contract in November 2022, Díaz suffered a dramatic ACL tear during the 2023 World Baseball Classic, and his road back to glory has been bumpy. The two-time All-Star struggled at times in the first half of this season. A four-run slump against the helpless Miami Marlins in mid-May pushed his ERA to 5.50. After that game, Díaz burst into tears in the visitors' locker room. Then a shoulder impingement sent him to the IL. Reed Garrett became the de facto closer.

But just like the Mets, Díaz stayed the course and found his rhythm in the second half. As the Mets regained relevance and were in the midst of the postseason hunt, Díaz shined. He has a 2.42 ERA since the start of July. He has allowed just one run in 11 September appearances. His two-inning performance on Sunday only confirmed the obvious.

“I felt really good,” he said. “I came back from my shoulder injury at the beginning of the season, but now I feel the rhythm, the rhythm I want to have.”

The Mets also feel the rhythm.