MIAMI — Even at their worst, the Mets have owned Game 161.
In 2007, a day before the Mets completed one of the most precipitous collapses in Major League history, John Maine held the Marlins scoreless on one hit into the eighth inning of a blowout that (temporarily) saved their season. One year later, Johan Santana fired a three-hit shutout on an injured knee to do the same. In both instances, the Mets lost the next day to crash out of the playoff race.
Time will tell if this year ends the same. All Clay Holmes could do Saturday was give the Mets a chance, which he did with his best start of the season in his final regular-season appearance. Needing a victory to keep New York’s most realistic playoff hopes alive, Holmes held the Marlins to one hit over six shutout innings in a 5-0 win at loanDepot park.
“It was a game that we had to win today,” Holmes said. “I just went out there and gave it my all.”
Had the Mets lost to the Marlins on Saturday, they would have been eliminated when the Reds beat the Brewers. Instead, Holmes, Brooks Raley, Tyler Rogers and Edwin Díaz combined on a one-hitter to ensure themselves at least one more meaningful game.
“That’s the exact outing that we needed today,” first baseman Pete Alonso said.
Pumping the zone with his signature sinker, Holmes induced 11 ground-ball outs, retiring the first eight Marlins in a row before escaping a third-inning jam on yet another grounder. That began a run of six more consecutive outs for Holmes, who proved so efficient that manager Carlos Mendoza decided to push him. When Holmes stranded two men on base in the fifth inning, Mendoza gave his veteran starter the sixth. Holmes responded with three additional routine grounders.
“That’s just kind of what I do when I’m really good,” Holmes said, referring specifically to his sinker. “These games bring out that intensity. It was able to play up just a little bit more. I was getting a lot of ground balls, and the defense made a lot of plays behind me.”
In a vacuum, Holmes’ performance would be notable. Consider also that six days earlier, Holmes had given the Mets 3 2/3 innings of shutout relief, followed by another inning Wednesday on his typical between-starts throw day. By the time Holmes walked off the mound for the final time Saturday, pitching coach Jeremy Hefner noted, he was “gassed.”
“He left it all on the line,” Hefner said.
By the seventh, Mendoza and Hefner felt comfortable enough to turn to their bullpen, despite the fact that Holmes had thrown only 78 pitches.
“This was a must-win game,” Holmes said. “At any point, whether it’s the World Series or the second-to-last game of the regular season, those games mean a lot. You can definitely feel that.
“Going into the game, to be honest, it took me back to a little bit of last year [with the Yankees], losing a World Series and how bad I want to be a part of that, especially with this group here. These games, these must-win games bring out some of that. I was happy to go out and just leave it all out there tonight.”
It helped that Alonso provided some early offense, doubling home a run in the first inning and hitting his 38th homer in the third. Jeff McNeil laced an RBI double in the sixth and Francisco Lindor added an RBI single in the ninth for the Mets, who will play another crucial game on Sunday to end their regular season.
Every Mets pitcher outside of Holmes and Nolan McLean will be available in that one, including Sean Manaea — who will start, but likely to be on a short leash — and David Peterson. The proceedings are unlikely to look anything like the Mets’ win on Saturday. The Mets don’t need them to. They just need the effort in Game 162 to match what Holmes gave them in Game 161.
“For him to be feeling this good this time of the year and how much we’ve used him, it says a lot about him and the work that he put in — not only in the offseason, but throughout the season,” Mendoza said. “I’m hoping this is not the last time we see him pitch this year.”
