It started with a pair of apologies, it ended with two wins and the only thing the Mets and Javier Baez lost on Tuesday was an earring.
In a few hours at Citi Field, Baez went from booed villain to heroic receiver to a standing ovation amid a happy celebration at home. In short, go from thumbs down to decidedly thumbs up.
Baez had two starters, scored in the ninth of five runs on Tuesday afternoon, then scored the winning game by slipping onto the home plate to secure the Mets. 6-5 slip victory Above the Miami Marlins in the first game with two heads. “He talks a lot about the guys,” Mets midfielder Michael Conforto said of the entire rally, “especially today.”
Team day began around noon when Baez and Francisco Lindor, Mets players and good friends, were forced to publicly apologize for their last talk. refusal gesturesWhich sparked the ire of fans and within the organization. It ended with the Mets winning 3-1 in the second half, which was shortened to seven games at the base.
“It was a great day,” said Mets’ Brandon Nemo, who hit home twice in the ninth game of the opener.
The booing that caused all the consternation, Baez admitted on Sunday, was aimed at fans in retaliation for the team’s booing in recent weeks. Some fans were willing to forgive Lindor, who has been with the club since day one of spring training. When he reached the plate throughout the first match, he heard a mixture of mostly boos and cheers.
But when Bayes came in as a hitter in the eighth inning, He only heard the boos From a small crowd of 8,199 people, they were in attendance to resume the match that had been suspended on April 11, while Baez was still with the Cubs.
said Terry Triller, a dental hygienist from Lake Placid, New York, who listened to the first match on the radio during the six-hour journey to get to the second match with her husband and son. “If you don’t whistle, you’re not a fan of the Mets. I’m sorry.”
Baez hit the court on his first hit and then came back on the plate again in the ninth minute after the Mets cut through from 5-1 down as Nemo advanced on home.
With runners in second and third positions, Mets manager Luis Rojas said he could feel a dramatic moment brewing as Paez, who Rojas described as a clutch player, walked over the board.
“You expect something special to happen,” Rojas said.
Whatever instincts the fans had for booing Bayes at that moment were replaced by their desire to see the Mets win the match. Some even chanted Bayes’ name in support. He responded by tearing a rebound into the hole a short distance and darting down the line to safely reach first base on a ground stroke as he scored a run to close the gap to 5-4.
The next hitter was Conforto, who tore one into the left field. Pete Alonso scored easily from third base and Paez, who was driving hard behind him, saw Marlins left player Jorge Alvaro mishandling the ball. Without hesitation, Baez sprinted, galloping around the turn and sliding safely home first, sparking festive celebration on the field and in the stands.
Jonathan Villar arrived first to hug Bayes, but Lindor was there later. Close friends, who were at the center of a unique Mets-like controversy, shared a passionate hug in front of the house plate while the rest of the team moved to second base to celebrate with Conforto.
Taiguan Walker, who threw the first game of the day – officially as a relief to Marcus Strowman who started the original game on April 11 – admitted the team’s energy was low after the escalating storm of thumbs-up controversy and the team meeting to tackle it on Tuesday morning. But after the first game ended on Tuesday, Baez reignited the team and many of their fans, and in his first night cap game, only the cheers were heard.
“He’s doing everything he can to win the ball games for us,” Walker said of Baez, who scored a 3-pointer in Game Two of the day.
The mood was quite different on Sunday after Bayes revealed the internal nature of the signal, which was usually carried on base lanes toward the team’s bunker after the player took a major hit. Later that night, Team Leader Sandy Alderson The players condemned in a statement, calling it “totally unacceptable,” and fans agreed.
“I thought it was repugnant,” said John Minotti, owner of Sunshine Coffee Roosters in Larchmont, New York, and it was an intriguing decision to share with the media. That wasn’t smart.”
But by Tuesday afternoon, Minotti was more focused on baseball skills than gaps in judgment. “I was happy to have Baez on our team,” he said. “No one else, except Lindor, can do this play.”
Alderson showed that he, too, was willing to forgive Bayes. During the house slide, or perhaps during a party, Bayes lost a diamond earring in the ballpark. Long after the first game was over, Alderson would go out to clear the playing area, and help the ground crew and other staff members search for the lost precious jewels.
The team was out on Monday, but on Tuesday, Lindor, who signed A 10 years, $341 million extension Before the season after arriving on a deal from Cleveland, Baez spoke to reporters in the field and issued their apologies and explanations.
“Resentment to me means the ordeal we have been through, the negative things, we have overcome,” Lindor said. “We did it, and we got over it. However, it was a mistake and I apologize to everyone I offended. It was not my intention to offend people. You cannot go against the fans.”
Lindor added, “It doesn’t look good on our part.”
Stephen Cohen, owner of Mets, Lindor and Baez praised for their apology Fans were asked to stand behind them for Tuesday’s matches.
“Glad to hear our players apologize to the fans,” he wrote.
Baez, who helped lead the Chicago Cubs to the World Championships in 2016, Acquired July 30 As for field chances, Pete Crowe-Armstrong and the Mets lost 11 of the team’s next 15 games and were eliminated from first place in the Eastern National League. As the loss has continued in recent weeks, fans have booed loudly, and according to Bayes, some players have developed the thumb gesture as a way of saying that if fans can boo players when they’re playing poorly, then players can boo players. Fans when the team succeeds.
“I didn’t mean to offend anyone,” Bayes said. “It’s something I did in the past for the other team.”
Baez said he may have said something wrong about booing the crowd and that he really meant it to his teammates.
“I didn’t say fans are bad,” he said. “Like, I love the fans. It felt like we were alone. The fans obviously want to win and pay us, everyone says. But we want to win, and the frustration has come to us. I didn’t mean to offend anyone. We’re sorry.”
They did just that, and so much more, to help regain the favour of the loyal celebrity fan base.
“In short, winning heals everything,” said Conforto, who played match two.