Playing in a playoff-type atmosphere at Citi Field, the Mets came away with one of their biggest wins of the season on Wednesday night, taking down the Braves 2-1.
And there were a pair of heroes who helped seal the win in the late innings.
It started with Brandon Drury, who put the Mets ahead in the seventh with a huge two-out, pinch-hit home run off of Max Fried.
“I had seen him start throwing his curveball a lot later in the game. I was just kind of watching, imagining I was in there at the time,” Drury said afterwards.
“First pitch I was sitting on it. He threw it for a ball. I saw it pretty good, and then I actually got back on the fastball and just picked it up and put a good swing on it.”
“He was a great acquisition in the offseason by our front office, because they believed that he was going to be doing what he’s doing right now,” Luis Rojas said of Drury. “This guy’s got a lot of at-bats in his career at the big-league level, and we felt like he was going to be one of those big right-handed bats either off the bench or if we were in need, running into a situation like we’ve run into a couple times.
“He came back up and he’s immediately delivering for us every time we put him in the game…. He sat on a pitch, he got it, and he didn’t miss it.”
After Drury delivered at the plate, Michael Conforto helped preserve the win by throwing a bullet home to nab Abraham Almonte at the plate, erasing what would have been the tying win.
“That probably ranks up there with, as far as the adrenaline rush and the reaction from the stadium, right up there with the walk-off against the Nationals [in 2019],” Conforto said.
“It’s the best feeling in the world. I can’t put into words what it feels like, and I’m still sort of shaking from it right now. It’s just an awesome moment, another incredible team win.”
Conforto has had his struggles at the plate this season, but he still found a way to help the Mets come up with the win on Wednesday.
“Yeah, it’s been frustrating at the plate. I think I’ve left a lot of hits out there,” Conforto said. “I’ve given away some at-bats. Today, I felt pretty good at the plate. Max Fried is just a very good pitcher. …. Like I said, it’s just another day to show up and do something to help the team win. Get on base, make a play in the outfield. When things aren’t going through at the plate, I try to focus on making sure I can compartmentalize and separate defense, base-running and all that stuff to make sure that I’m still having an impact.”