Grimace magic of Cardiac Mets makes us believe

With the Mets getting three come-from-behind wins this week, it sure makes you think something special is brewing.

Watching Game 1 of the National League Division Series on Saturday afternoon at Clubhouse Cafe, Mets fan patron Amir told me that the Mets do their magic late in the game. He cited that plenty of their comebacks came from the seventh to ninth inning this season.

The Mets made him a prophet by scoring five runs in the eighth inning after being scoreless for the first seven innings, and it was good enough to earn a 6-2 victory over the Philadelphia Phillies at Citizens Bank Park and take a 1-0 series lead.

This is the Mets' third comeback win of the week. Do you realize how hard it is even to get a comeback win? It makes you think there’s something special in the air with this team when you see what’s happening. How could anyone not think this could be the year?

The Mets have gone through a lot this season, such as going 0-5 and 25-35 to start the season. They went through an offensive slump in the final week of the season that almost had them miss the playoffs. But here they are just 10 wins away from winning a championship for the first time since 1986.

It sure appears they are on pace to get there after everything has come up well for them.

Maybe Grimace is really working his magic, and there’s something to it. This has to be after what you saw this week.

The McDonald’s mascot has become a forgotten story since the focus has been on players such as Francisco Lindor, Edwin Diaz, Sean Manaea, Jose Iglesias, Luis Severino, Jeff McNeil and others who have been the main characters of this team’s success, and rightfully so.

But he must be doing something from what we are seeing this week.

Before we credit Grimace and the Mets, Phillies manager Rob Thomson received an assist in helping the Amazin’s start another improbable story by taking Phillies ace Zack Wheeler out in the eighth inning after throwing 111 pitches (postseason career-high) and allowing only one hit and forcing the Mets to have 30 swings and misses.

Still, with the way Wheeler was going, he had enough to go at least one more or, who knows, maybe nine innings.

This is the time of the year when a manager has to know if his starter is good enough to pitch a complete game. It’s called managing by feel. 

It made sense to go that route. He wasn’t breaking a sweat. Forget the pitch count here. He did not appear to labor in this game. In an interview he had with Fox’s Tom Verducci, he expected to pitch the next inning. He had the look of a starter who wanted a complete game. The Mets couldn’t do anything, so it made sense to leave him in.

When Jeff Hoffman started the eighth inning with a 1-0 lead, the Mets knew they had a chance.

Lo and behold, Francisco Alvarez started with a single and Francisco Lindor walked. Then, Mark Vientos hit a game-tying RBI single. That was the end of Hoffman’s day.

Enter Matt Strahm. Brandon Nimmo hit a tie-breaking RBI single off him. Pete Alonso hit a sacrifice fly to make it a 3-1 game. After Jose Iglesias singled, it was the end of Strahm’s day. 

Enter Orion Kerkering. J.D. Martinez hit an RBI single off him, scoring Nimmo to make it a 4-1 game. Starling Marte hit a sacrifice fly, scoring Iglesias in tacking in the fifth run of the game.

The Mets tacked in another run in the ninth inning.

There’s no guarantee Wheeler would have shut the Mets out in the eighth inning, but he gave the Phillies a better chance than the rest of the Phillies relievers.

Credit the Mets, though. They know how to get it done when the situation presents itself late. This is where they are at their best. The experience of them doing this late in the game all season has given them the know-how of getting it done.

We saw that on Monday when Tyrone Taylor had an 11-pitch epic at-bat against Spencer Swellenbach that had Braves manager Brian Snitker take his starter out, and the Mets went on to score six runs in the eighth inning against Braves setup man Joe Jimenez and Braves closer Raisel Iglesias, taking a 6-3 lead. Then, after the Braves responded by scoring four runs, taking a 7-6 lead, Lindor hit a two-run home run to give the Mets an 8-7 lead that would give them the win.

How about on Thursday when Pete Alonso hit a one-out, three-run home run, giving the Mets a 3-2 lead in the ninth inning of Game 3 of the wild card series? Alonso of all people considering he had four extra-base hits in a span of 23 games since Sept. 9. His home run was why the Mets won what was an entertaining series.

The players certainly know they have the goods to win it all. The fans definitely should feel the same way about the Mets.

Yes, the Yankees should roll over the AL Central teams on their way to the World Series.

The Los Angeles Dodgers and San Diego Padres have the talent to win it all. The Phillies have the lineup to hit their way to the World Series.

Despite all that, the Mets have the talent, pitching and Grimace magic to win a championship.

This week should make every Mets fan believe.