If anything, it has become a common denominator, and an indispensable one, for the Mets during their postseason run. They’ve had the ninth-inning drama.
The magical homers. The legacy moments.
But during their 7-2 win over the Phillies in Game 3 of the NLDS, the Mets needed a different type of clutch hitting to supplement an early pair of homers.
Starling Marte, Jose Iglesias and Francisco Lindor, who drove in the final five runs Tuesday, all connected on hits with two outs — with those once-insurance runs morphing into the difference-making ones after the Phillies ended the shutout bid with two in the eighth.
“Two-out hits are huge in the postseason,” Lindor said.
In the sixth inning, Marte knew that he didn’t want to chase a pitch against Orion Kerkering.
The Mets had loaded the bases with no outs, but after the Phillies pulled starter Aaron Nola, Kerkering induced a fielder’s choice groundout and a fly out.
Connecting on an outside sweeper, Marte redirected the ball up the middle to score a pair of runs and extend the Mets’ lead to four.
Iglesias faced a similar situation the next inning.
The bases, again, were loaded with two outs.
An infield single and a pair of walks had prompted Phillies manager Rob Thomson to insert Jose Ruiz.
But Iglesias continued his recent tear — a career-best 22-game hitting streak to close the regular season, hits in five of the Mets’ six postseason games — with a two-run single up the middle to make it 6-0.
It marked the Mets’ fourth hit with the bases loaded this postseason.
Then, in the eighth, Lindor doubled down the first-base line to drive in J.D. Martinez with two outs, providing the Mets with some cushion after the Phillies had cut into their deficit.
“They’re putting good at-bats against them,” Thomson said of the Mets’ at-bats against his bullpen. “I don’t think we’re executing pitches, to tell you the truth.”
The Mets got their homers — from Pete Alonso and Jesse Winker — against Nola to ignite the Citi Field crowd.
They wouldn’t have been in this spot to begin with if Alonso hadn’t homered in Game 3 of the NL Wild Card Series.
But Marte’s two-out single added another run later in that pivotal ninth inning last week.
Their five-run fifth in Game 1 of that series all transpired with two outs, too.
And Tuesday, similar success helped the Mets reach the brink of the NLCS.
“When you put the ball in play, good things happen,” Iglesias said, “and it shows there for Marte, it shows there for me.”
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