On Monday afternoon, David Stearns expressed confidence in the bulk of his team ahead of the trade deadline, only stating outright that the bullpen needed help.
For at least the final three innings Monday night, the Mets provided some evidence for that belief.
The Mets lineup came alive and their makeshift bullpen looked strong in what became one of the more stirring victories of the season. A 4-0 deficit after 3 ¹/₂ innings was erased. So was a 5-2 deficit entering the bottom of the seventh.
On the backs of a few timely hits, the No Longer Baby Mets and a bullpen effort Carlos Mendoza called “unbelievable,” the Mets pulled off a 7-5 comeback win over the Angels in front of 41,442 at Citi Field.
“Overall,” Mendoza said, “I think it was a really good team win.”
The Mets (57-44) have responded to losing three straight by taking two straight — the second far more improbable than the first as they scored the game’s final five runs.
Kodai Senga was done after three ineffective innings, and the Mets offense was mostly silent against Tyler Anderson. Their only runs for six innings came courtesy of a two-run shot from Brett Baty, whose dinger was his first this year against a southpaw and who may be winning an everyday job.
“I feel like I’m in a good spot,” said Baty, who also drew a key walk and saved a run in the seventh inning, when he leapt for a chopper from Jo Adell and threw a strike to a just-recalled Francisco Alvarez, who placed a tag on Mike Trout at the plate.
Because of that play, the Mets entered the bottom of the seventh down just three runs before finally getting to Angels pitching.
In the frame, Alvarez — in his first game back from his Triple-A demotion — fought back from 0-2 to earn a walk before Luisangel Acuña singled him to third. Reid Detmers entered and plunked Brandon Nimmo to load the bases.
Francisco Lindor — in an 0-for-26 rut — could not wake up his bat but could use his legs to beat out a fielder’s choice that scored one.
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Juan Soto followed with a well-placed single up the middle to score two more to tie it.
Brooks Raley followed with a shutdown eighth inning, part of a five-man, six-inning, one-run effort from the relief corps.
Kevin Herget, Chris Devenski, Huascar Brazobán, Raley and Edwin Díaz stitched together two-thirds of the game.
“Pretty incredible,” Mendoza said of a group that will continue to evolve and that gave the Mets a chance to steal the game in the eighth.
The winning frame was keyed by the once Baby Mets. Baty, whose encouraging development may dissuade Stearns from adding an infielder at the deadline, worked a six-pitch walk.
His good pal Alvarez then hammered a double off the right field wall — the kind of opposite-field shot that reminded of his pop, which had gone missing before the demotion.
“For him to come through in that spot tonight was amazing,” Baty said of Alvarez, who was welcomed back by the home crowd with a standing ovation for his first at-bat.
“It felt really good,” Alvarez added through interpreter Alan Suriel. “All the struggles that I had earlier in the season and the way they kept supporting me, and the way they received me today … it felt really special.”
The night was more special because the comeback was completed. With Baty and Alvarez in scoring position, Ronny Mauricio pinch hit and smacked a ground ball right at third baseman Yoán Moncada, who had plenty of time to throw out Baty at home.
But Moncada threw wildly to the plate, gifting the Mets the lead, which would be cushioned by Nimmo’s sacrifice fly.
The Mets survived a game in which Senga, in his second game back from a hamstring strain, pitched just three innings in which he let up four runs.
Senga built up from 67 to 73 pitches, he and Sean Manaea stretching out slowly and putting a large strain on the bullpen.
Senga was done in by a three-run, 37-pitch third inning.
“I think it all just comes down to mechanics,” said Senga, who let up a homer to Logan O’Hoppe, a two-run double to Taylor Ward and an RBI single to Jo Adell. “I was thinking about a lot of things and it didn’t come to fruition.”
His exit jump-started a bullpen carousel that rarely ends this smoothly.