Díaz heeds early call to help Mets to 6th win in a row

LOS ANGELES -- Facing these Dodgers, it’s always obvious where Shohei Ohtani lurks in the lineup. Teams plan around him. So when Ohtani approached home plate in the eighth inning Saturday as the game’s potential tying run, Mets manager Carlos Mendoza pushed a button he had yet to touch all season: he called on Edwin Díaz before the ninth.

The result was not Díaz’s smoothest effort. But the Mets closer did just enough during the eighth inning of a 6-4 win over the Dodgers, striking out Teoscar Hernández and Max Muncy to strand the bases loaded. That set up Reed Garrett to record his first career save in the ninth at Chavez Ravine.

“I thought the game was there in the eighth -- our best guy against their best hitter,” Mendoza said.

Although the Mets took the lead for good in the sixth inning on a Starling Marte three-run homer, the game stayed tight, prompting both managers to empty their bullpens. Díaz had not pitched in five days, which feasibly allowed Mendoza to extend him for his first multi-inning appearance since 2022.

While that was in the back of Mendoza’s mind, the manager was more interested in making sure Díaz faced the heart of Los Angeles’ order: Ohtani, Freddie Freeman and Hernández.

With one out and Mookie Betts on first base, Díaz entered with a simple plan: pitch carefully to Ohtani and Freeman in hopes of tempting them to offer at pitcher’s pitches. But that didn’t work, as both sluggers walked to load the bases.

At that point, Díaz abandoned finesse, attacking Hernández with sliders over the heart of the plate and hammering Muncy with fastballs. Of note, Díaz’s velocity, which had flagged a bit in his previous appearance, ticked back up in this one. He averaged over 97 mph with his four-seamer and topped out at 98.1.

Relying on both his uptick in velocity and the usual wicked movement on his slider, Díaz struck out both Hernández and Muncy to strand the bases loaded and preserve a two-run lead.

“You’re always trusting that he’s going to get out of trouble,” Mendoza said. “He’s going to continue to make pitches. And he did that today.”

Because Díaz needed 20 pitches to record two outs, Mendoza quickly abandoned any plan to bring him back for the ninth. It helped that the manager has a new trusted bullpen weapon in Garrett, who entered the day leading the Majors in strikeouts as a reliever -- despite spending the start of the season in the Minors. Garrett added to his April legend with three quick strikeouts. He now has a save and three wins in six appearances.

“Man, he’s doing amazing,” Díaz said. “He stepped in the ninth and struck out the side. That’s really good. I can’t always pitch the ninth. I can come in earlier in the game and do my job, and we’ve got someone like him who can do his job too in the ninth.”

The victory was the sixth in a row for the Mets, who have taken 12 of their last 15 and are guaranteed a series win over the Dodgers. On a difficult afternoon that saw the Mets lose starting catcher Francisco Alvarez for the foreseeable future, Mendoza’s bullpen usage ensured the team would at least enjoy the solace of a win.

“Unbelievable,” said one of Alvarez’s replacements, Tomás Nido, who caught the final three innings. “I know these guys bring it every day. I’ve been watching from the other side, and I was kind of excited to get back there and keep the ball rolling.”