Mets Move Into Playoff Spot With Dramatic Ninth Inning Comeback

All it took was one hit for the New York Mets to get the ball rolling.

Entering the ninth inning of Wednesday's game against the Toronto Blue Jays, the Mets were on the verge of suffering their most humiliating loss of the year; despite another rock-solid start by Sean Manaea (6.2 innings of one-run ball), New York's lineup was completely shut down by Toronto's Bowden Francis, who pitched eight no-hit innings and was just three outs away from making baseball history.

But that's when Francisco Lindor crashed the stage.

Leading off the ninth inning, the Mets' shortstop completely flipped the script by turning on a fastball and crushing it into the right field seats, completely deflating the Blue Jays and the home crowd. All of a sudden, Francis had lost his no-hitter, his shutout, and the chance at a win, and was removed in favor of regular closer Chad Green.

THAT SEEMED PRETTY VALUABLE@Lindor12BC | #LGM pic.twitter.com/CRRB1g7aMq
— New York Mets (@Mets) September 11, 2024

In sharp contrast, Lindor's home run ignited New York's lineup, which sprung to life and blasted the game open.

Jose Iglesias greeted Toronto's new pitcher with a single, while advancing to second on a throwing error. Mark Vientos and Brandon Nimmo followed with walks to load the bases with nobody out, and Pete Alonso came through with a sacrifice fly to bring in Iglesias. After being no-hit through eight innings, the Mets had taken a 2-1 lead, and they looked to tack on more.

Pete gives us the lead! 👏 pic.twitter.com/bEYIy0G7WD
— New York Mets (@Mets) September 11, 2024

Green, who had completely lost the strike zone, walked J.D. Martinez to re-load the bases before Starling Marte added an insurance run with another sacrifice fly to make it 3-1. Toronto then sent in southpaw Genesis Cabrera to stop the bleeding, but Francisco Alvarez took a mighty swing at his first pitch and launched a dagger three-run home run to straightaway center field, bouncing off the batter's eye. All of a sudden, the Mets had a commanding 6-1 lead.

WAY OUTTA HERE 💥 pic.twitter.com/9I5vy4NtaY
— New York Mets (@Mets) September 11, 2024

Although the Mets would have preferred to not use closer Edwin Diaz in the bottom of the ninth, he only needed to throw one pitch to seal his team's amazing 6-2 victory and a crucial series win in Toronto.

"Once Lindor hit that ball, you could feel it. You could sense [the momentum shift]," Mets manager Carlos Mendoza said after the game. "This is something that we've been talking about as a team -- finding ways to win a baseball game. You have to execute. You have to have the awareness of where you are."

"This is something we've been talking about as a team. Finding ways to win baseball games. You have to execute"

- Carlos Mendoza pic.twitter.com/rMQFqryzIS
— SNY (@SNYtv) September 11, 2024

As if things couldn't get even better for the Mets, they would assume sole possession of the third and last Wild Card spot in the NL by the end of the day; the Atlanta Braves, who were tied with New York entering Wednesday, fell to the Washington Nationals 5-1 later that night.

Entering Thursday, the Mets have a one-game lead over their hated NL East rivals, while trailing the San Diego Padres and Arizona Diamondbacks by 1.5 and two games, respectively, for the top two Wild Card spots.

And all it took was one swing of the bat.