EmailPrintOpen Extended ReactionsNEW YORK -- The Mets, less than 48 hours after plummeting to another low in their dismal season, left Citi Field on Sunday on a high.After losing not only the Subway Series opener Friday, but Clay Holmes, their best starting pitcher this season, for an extended period to a fractured fibula, the Mets rebounded to take the final two games over the Yankees, topped off by an improbable 7-6 comeback win in Sunday's series finale.With two outs in the ninth inning, Tyrone Taylor -- a glove-first reserve outfielder -- cracked a game-tying three-run home run off Yankees closer David Bednar. Mets closer Devin Williams then, with runners on the corners and one out, induced an inning-ending double play in the 10th before Carson Benge delivered his second walk-off of the homestand to give the Mets their fifth win in six games. The Yankees, meanwhile, have dropped seven of nine."Awesome," Taylor said. "That's all I can say. This is awesome."The Mets had been 0-91 when trailing after eight innings since Game 3 of the 2024 Wild Card Series against the Milwaukee Brewers when Pete Alonso hit a go-ahead three-run home run off Williams, then the Brewers closer. It was a skid that even perplexed owner Steve Cohen before the season when it stood at 0-70."That's impressive, right?" Mets manager Carlos Mendoza said. "That's hard to do. Baseball, it's hard to explain sometimes."All along, as inexplicable underperformance and injury after injury dug a deeper and deeper hole, the Mets, from the front office through the clubhouse, entered this weekend showdown against the formidable Yankees maintaining that they believe they could turn their season around.Then Friday happened. Mendoza for the first time this season seemed deflated that night after learning a comebacker off Spencer Jones' bat in the fourth inning had broken Holmes' leg. The Mets had right-handed starter Kodai Senga and four starting position players, including star shortstop Francisco Lindor, already on the injured list, but he noted Friday "felt different" after the diagnosis. Getting back on track seemed daunting even for a team with the second-highest payroll in the majors.The Mets responded with an encouraging 6-3 win Saturday highlighted by former Yankees reliever Luke Weaver wiggling free from a base-loaded, no-out jam in the seventh inning. But the good vibes seemed fleeting Sunday when the Yankees capitalized on more Mets sloppiness to score four runs and take a 5-1 lead in the sixth inning on one hit, two walks, a hit by pitch, and an error by shortstop Bo Bichette on a routine pop up to shallow left field."We didn't play our best, and you get down and for us to just continue to fight and for Tyrone to come through there is just special," Mendoza said. "A lot of people contributing. It was just good to see the guys fight back, staying in the fight. It's just a good feeling now."The feeling was possible because Taylor defied the numbers. The right-hander had been 6 for 42 with no home runs and a .348 OPS against right-handers this season before he jumped a first-pitch curveball from Bednar, tucking the blast just inside the left field foul pole to ignite the Mets' portion of the crowd.The heroics came after some harsh luck at the plate. Taylor entered the game as a pinch-hitter in the fifth inning when Yankees right fielder Spencer Jones robbed him of a run-scoring hit for the third out. Two innings later, he whacked a 103.8-mph lineout. Teammates encouraged him after the misfortune. At least one sensed a better outcome was near before he kept the Mets alive with one swing."I had a feeling," Benge said. "I didn't tell him that, but to be able to see that was so sick."There's a chance the Mets look back at Saturday and Sunday's wins as a turnaround point in a return to the postseason. They were in a worse spot two years ago, 11 games under .500 on June 2, before a magical summer ended two win short of the World Series. There's also a chance it will be the highlight of a disappointing season.The Mets will begin a six-game road trip Monday against the Washington Nationals and Miami Marlins with a 20-26 record, seven games out of the third and final wild-card spot. They're undermanned and underperformance remains an issue for key players. But they still believe."We know that we got to start playing better, period," Mendoza said. "It's been rough. But that's in the past. Now all we can control is every game, every series, the mentality of winning series. And we did that this homestand and we got to continue to do it."
