Mets Notebook: Mets vets ready for make-or-break doubleheader with Braves

MILWAUKEE — When it looked arsenic though the Mets were going to cave nether pressure, the Mets denied determination was unit astatine all. It was a strategic, mind-over-matter mode of reasoning to marque them deliberation that it didn’t exist, that their play wasn’t connected the enactment and that their changeable astatine the postseason wasn’t dwindling away.

“Sure, you tin bash that, and past you astir apt won’t execute precise well,” outfielder Brandon Nimmo said Saturday nighttime aft the Mets mislaid their 3rd consecutive game. “But the intelligence broadside of things, from what we’ve heard from radical who person succeeded astatine not conscionable baseball, but shot and hoops and everything, is astir getting to the constituent of not caring what the effect is, due to the fact that that affects the eventual result.”

The Mets had to play Sunday against the Milwaukee Brewers arsenic if they didn’t attraction successful bid to succeed. It worked.

They salvaged a bid with a 5-0 win astatine American Family Field, leaving them 1 triumph distant from clinching an NL Wild Card postseason berth. They tin clinch Monday by winning 1 of 2 games against the Atlanta Braves astatine Truist Park.

“We’ve been talking astir it, we conscionable person to support it the same,” said seasoned DH J.D. Martinez. “We can’t enactment unit connected ourselves. I mean, I’ve been saying this since we sucked and everybody benignant of wrote america off. It’s like, dude, we don’t person immoderate pressure. We’re not expected to beryllium here. We conscionable can’t get present present and each of a abrupt we enactment unit connected ourselves.”

However, adjacent Martinez couldn’t contradict that the Mets felt the value of the play connected their shoulders arsenic they arrived successful Atlanta past week. The vigor successful Truist Park felt choky arsenic the Mets mislaid a important series-opener. Then the adjacent 2 games were moved to Monday erstwhile Hurricane Helene rolled done and past the Mets dropped the opener successful Milwaukee.

“I could benignant of consciousness it erstwhile we were successful Atlanta, erstwhile we came present close away, you could benignant of spot it,” Martinez said. “It’s conscionable 1 of those things wherever everybody knows it’s astatine stake. But I deliberation the champion teams cognize however to power those emotions successful those situations.”

The Mets efficaciously controlled their emotions Sunday.

The clubhouse was bumping with creation euphony Sunday morning. Mark Vientos clapped on to the bushed arsenic catcher Francisco Alvarez passed him and yelled, “Let’s spell baby! Let’s bash it!” They scored a first-inning tally to instrumentality their archetypal pb successful a week and got a clutch show from left-hander David Peterson.

“Anytime you people runs it helps. Anytime you get a pb it helps. Petey going retired determination and shoving helps,” Martinez said. “It’s conscionable 1 of those things wherever we effort to spell retired determination and play good and springiness ourselves a chance.”

The Mets volition commencement right-handers Luis Severino and Tylor Megill successful the doubleheader, though they haven’t decided which pitcher volition commencement which game. Spencer Schwellenbach volition look the Mets again and effort to repetition his Tuesday nighttime performance.

If the Mets expanse the Braves, they volition caput to San Diego to unfastened the Wild Card circular against the Padres astatine Petco Park, and destruct the Braves from postseason contention. If they divided the series, they volition destruct the Diamondbacks and caput backmost to Milwaukee to look the Brewers again.

If Atlanta sweeps the doubleheader, the Mets volition beryllium out, Arizona volition get successful and the Braves volition look the Padres.

The league opted not to determination the Wild Card circular back.

“It’s going to beryllium a pugnacious task,” Martinez said. “We’ve conscionable got to suck it up. We’ve got to find a mode to get determination and get done it.”

TRAINER’S ROOM

Alvarez near the crippled precocious Sunday with cramps successful his close hamstring. By the extremity of the game, they had dissipated. Alvarez does not expect missing clip Monday. Luis Torrens played successful spot of the second-year backstop Saturday aft Alvarez went down with backmost spasms Friday night. The backmost spasms had gone distant by Sunday.