In the top of the ninth inning on Wednesday night of the Mets 3-2 win over the Cardinals, the Mets defense came up huge to help keep the Mets in the lead.
With runners on 1st and 2nd and one out, Daniel Descalso doubled off of Mets closer Kyle Farnsworth to the left center field gap and one hop off the fence.
Mets center fielder Kirk Nieuwenhuis got to the ball first and in the GIF you see below from our friends over at the great Amazin Avenue started one of the best defensive plays the Mets have had all season
There is so much to talk about with this play. First of all, the wind carried the ball out of the reach of Nieuwenhuis and barely missed being a ground rule double which would have kept Matt Carpenter on the bases, putting him at third.
Then you have Ruben Tejada, who makes a fantastic relay throw after taking a complete turn and throwing while falling off to his left (falling to his right from the camera point of view) and putting it right on target. Tejada might not be a major league caliber hitter but his defense the past few days (minus the bone headed play he had in the first on Wednesday) has been great.
Then you have the tag by Travis d’Arnaud who was touted throughout his career as a great hitter and an OK defender at best. Instead he is continuing to play solid defense with his hitting slowly coming around. The sweep tag, which has to be done because of the new blocking the plate rules, was right on time and got the big out the Mets needed.
This Mets team so far is 11-10 (at the time this post was written) and at times you wonder how they have been able to do it. The defense has been solid overall, the bullpen has been up and down, the starting pitchers have been very good while the offense has been, to put it nicely, very bad.
Last night was a game that the Mets really had no business winning and yet they found a way to get it done.
Now I won’t pretend that this 11-10 start in their brutal stretch to start the season means they are going to the playoffs. Far from it.
But, sometimes the most enjoyable seasons and moments within those seasons come when a team surprises you by playing over their heads and trolling the fans and media who are always negative.
If the Mets offense comes around and the pitching keeps doing what it has so far maybe this season can be one of those years.
If so, this play you saw from Wednesday night, will be one of the ones you remember all season long.
