David Lennon: Mets' A.J. Ewing a fitting hero a day after Knicks win first title in 53 years
The Mets' A.J. Ewing hits a solo home run in the fifth inning of a game against Atlanta at Citi Field on Sunday. Credit: Newsday/Thomas A. Ferrara
With most of New York City sleeping off the all-night Knicks banger, the Mets still had a baseball game to play Sunday in Queens, and they awoke to a much different reality from their world champion neighbors at Madison Square Garden.
The midtown skyline could be lit up in orange-and-blue for them someday, just as it was Saturday night to honor the Knicks. Maybe Times Square will be packed with Mets revelers, giddy over a first title since 1986.
For now, however, the Mets remain a team trying to climb out of last place and steadily improve their long-shot odds at playoff contention.
On Sunday, they were surrounded at Citi Field by the residue of the Knicks’ inspirational title run, from Game 5 highlights on the massive video board to the stands dotted with Jalen Brunson jerseys.
Fittingly, it was a player named Ewing who helped deliver the Mets’ 8-1 victory and an impressive series win over Atlanta, which still owns the sport’s best record.
Shortly before Patrick Ewing celebrated with the Knicks on the court Saturday night in San Antonio, the Mets’ Ewing — rookie centerfielder A.J. — made sure to step outside his Long Island City apartment and soak up the citywide celebration.
“Like five minutes before the game ended,” Ewing said, “and waited for the roars.”
The following afternoon, Ewing had a crowd of 40,106 screaming for him as he finished a triple short of the cycle. He had an RBI double in the Mets’ four-run first inning, added a leadoff single in the third and hit back-to-back homers with Marcus Semien in the fifth. He’s batting .342 with a .907 OPS in his last 11 games dating to June 2.
“It’s just impressive how he’s carried himself, especially after a couple of tough games,” manager Carlos Mendoza said. “He’s kind of similar to Carson [Benge], where you can’t really tell whether they’re 0-for-4 or going through a really good stretch. Their ability to just stay consistent, control what they can control, getting their work in and playing their game.
“I think he’s just a mature guy that’s learning at the big-league level, adjusting, developing, and he’s doing pretty good.”
The Mets, in a sense, are trying to prove they belong when it comes to playoff contention. And taking two of three from first-place Atlanta, which leads them by 14 games, was a modest step toward that goal.
The Mets also were one big swing away from finishing off a ninth-inning rally in Saturday’s 3-1 loss, suggesting that — for a weekend at least — the distance between the top and bottom of the NL East is closer than it appears in the standings.
“It was huge,” said Freddy Peralta, who escaped a bases-loaded, none-out jam in the first with only one run allowed and yielded four hits in five innings. “It reminds ourselves how good we are.”
Record-wise, the Mets (32-39) are still working to get back to mediocre. But the only way out of a deep hole is to stop making it deeper, and beating archrival Atlanta — at home — always serves as a decent ego-booster for this franchise.
They’ll need it, too. In their next 38 games, the Mets play 29 against the Phillies (nine), Atlanta (seven), Dodgers (three), Brewers (three), Cubs (four) and Blue Jays (three).
“To turn this thing around, we have to start winning series consistently,” Mendoza said. “It doesn’t matter the schedule, the teams. It’s controlling what we can control and playing our best baseball here moving forward. Without getting too far ahead, obviously; it’s one series at a time. But it’s good to see the guys playing well against a very good team.”
Sunday also was one of those rare instances when Atlanta — and not the Mets — made the costly mistakes. The first inning could have ended in disaster when Juan Soto, with two on and none out, amazingly decided to bunt. The move backfired badly when Benge was easily thrown out at third base. When the camera panned to Mendoza, he had a stunned look on his face.
Fortunately for the Mets, the manager could laugh about it later, sarcastically joking with reporters that he gave Soto the sign. But that’s only because Jared Young followed with an RBI single and later scored when leftfielder Mike Yastrzemski fired a relay throw (on Ewing’s double) that caromed off the pole that supports the third-base netting.
Yastrzemski’s bizarre gaffe was something never seen before and helped provide the cushion the Mets would need. Maybe it was due to the positive vibes reverberating around the five boroughs since the Knicks’ clincher Saturday night and the fact that Mendoza made sure to acknowledge the historic feat during his pregame news conference.
“It’s unbelievable,” said Mendoza, who was riveted by Game 5. “You watch what they were able to do and how the city rallied around them, it’s pretty crazy. It’s what makes New York one of the greatest if not the greatest city in the world. Every day you show up with that goal in mind.”
Myers gets call. The Mets will call up Tobias Myers to start Monday against the Reds, with Christian Scott and Nolan McLean lined up for Tuesday and Wednesday, respectively. Myers was sent down to Triple-A Syracuse on May 30 and allowed one hit and an unearned run in six innings in three appearances (one walk, four strikeouts).
David Lennon is an award-winning columnist, a voter for baseball's Hall of Fame and has covered six no-hitters, including two perfect games.
