RESOLVING THE LEDGER
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NEW YORK — The sense of anticipation crackled through the Citi Field crowd as No. 84 trotted out of the bullpen in the eighth inning on Saturday afternoon.
Jefry Yan has only pitched in five major-league games, but a little less than two weeks since his debut, Mets fans know who the left-handed reliever is and the boisterous celebration that he brings with him to the mound.
Yan's big arm and his unique leaping celebration was on full display for the first time in Flushing, and it momentarily lifted the home crowd out of the team's reality in the standings.
He picked up five straight outs, including four celebrations — three warranted with strikeouts and another miscalculation on a ball call — and exited with his first career win after Francisco Lindor delivered a walk-off RBI single in the ninth inning of the Mets' 5-4 triumph over the Nationals in front of 34,737 fans at Citi Field.
"I was just trying to go out there and do my best because the last couple outings that I've had, I've battled a little bit," Yan said through an interpreter. "When I got to the mound, first and foremost, try to do my job and then once I did my job, it was time to have fub with the fans. We really enjoyed that part."
The Mets front office planted the white flag in the ground at the trade deadline on Aug. 3 when they dealt away the entire back end of the bullpen, along with two starters in Clay Holmes and Freddy Peralta and outfielder Tyrone Taylor.
But these Mets have put the blinders on to that reality. These Mets are playing free and easy. With Saturday's victory, the Mets have now won eight of their last 11 games since the trade deadline. They improved to 55-69.
"When you talk about joy, you're not talking about everybody smiling on the field sometimes," Mets interim manager Andy Green said. "Sometimes you're talking about like the enjoyment of getting to do this every single day, and it doesn't always manifest in a big smile on the face but you're excited to be on the field and at the ballpark.
"When you have that and you have resilience and you know it's going to be hard at times, you embrace that, that's foundation for winning baseball."
In the eighth inning, with the Mets down by one run, Lindor knocked a leadoff single but he was thrown out when he hesitated looking to take second base on a throw in the dirt. The Mets left the tying and go-ahead runs in scoring position in that frame as Jared Young struck out and Marcus Semien grounded out.
In the ninth inning against Clayton Better, Brett Baty drew a leadoff walk. Then, Jorge Polanco and Francisco Alvarez, who had been a combined 0-for-6 with four strikeouts earlier in the game, collected back-to-back hits. Alvarez delivered the game-tying RBI double to left field. And Lindor atoned for his earlier baserunning mistake with the winning hit.
"After that, I was just relying on the teammates. They put quality at-bats after that, we just didn't score," Lindor said. "In the ninth, the guys did what they did and we were able to come back. So yeah, it felt good."
It was the Mets' second straight comeback victory over the Nationals and 26th comeback win of the season.
And for a largely unproven team, with rookies in key spots in the lineup and fresh-faced bullpen and rotation, there are lessons to be learned from wins like Saturday.
"The more games they can play, the better. And when they're surrounded by a winning environment, it's been a tough year for everyone here, but they're seeing that the year is not done," Lindor said. "We got to play to win. There's an expectation to come here and play as hard as you can day in and fay out and try to win. That's what they're doing."
And giving fans a reason to watch. Carson Benge continued to punctuate a dynamic rookie season in the win..
In the sixth inning, he cracked a solo home run - his 14th of the season - to get the Mets within 4-3. Then, in the next half inning with the Mets on the ropes after a one-out triple from speedster Andrew Pickney, Benge came sprinting forward, caught a Dylan Crews fly ball and rifled a one-hop throw to catch the Nationals outfielder attempting to score.
It was Benge's sixth outfield assist of the season. With two more walks and the home run, Benge also extended his on-base streak to 18 games. He is slashing .348/.423/.609 with three home runs, eight RBI and eight runs. He's now batting .275 with a .757 OPS this season.
"We're just having fun, playing free, playing like we're kids again," Benge said. "It's been pretty fun to be around and look forward to coming to the field each day."
With players like Yan, who spent 12 years working to reach the big leagues, and Dedniel Nuñez, who is in his first season back from Tommy John surgery, occupying key spots in the bullpen, that appreciation is further realized.
Yan celebrated early on a ball call against Nunez on an 0-2 count for the final out of the game but atoned for it by striking him out two pitches later.
All of the team's new bullpen arms have everything to play for in the remainder of the season.
So when Yan was the first player to envelop Lindor near second base following the walk-off win, there was a degree of hope for what the future could hold.
"I think if guys take a lesson out of this year, then yes, it can definitely impact next year and that's the hope of what we're doing right now," Green said. "We get a game today and selling out to winning a baseball game and you want to develop habits that help you sustain winning as you go forward. I do believe those things can happen."
This article originally appeared on NorthJersey.com: These Mets can still be fun to watch. They proved it in walk-off win
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