Edwin Díaz Slams Door for Mets’ Third-Straight Win

Edwin Díaz had blown three saves, hurt his shoulder and been to the minors and back since his last save.

He entered with the Mets holding a 2-1 lead in the ninth inning of Friday’s game and the heart of the San Diego Padres’ order due up: Jurickson Profar, Manny Machado and Donovan Solano.

Profar lined a single to center before pinch-runner José Azocar later stole second. Díaz, however, didn’t break. He fanned Machado and induced a ground ball from Solano that was hit to Jeff McNeil’s left at second, who made a sliding stop and threw him out at first, before striking out Jake Cronenworth on a 3-2 slider to end the game with the tying run on third.

It was Díaz’s sixth save of the season and first since May 6. It had been 39 days since No. 39 had a save.

A day after Díaz and J.D. Martinez got the win and the walk-off, respectively, they were heroes once again. Martinez, who hit a two-run home run to beat the Miami Marlins on Thursday, broke a scoreless tie in the third inning with an opposite field two-run double off San Diego starter Matt Waldron. The Mets (31-37) are 9-4 since holding a team meeting following a loss to the Los Angeles Dodgers on the day that Jorge López tossed his glove into the crowd.

Manager Carlos Mendoza told reporters before the game that Martinez’s thinking approach to hitting is “next level.”

“The way he sees the game, especially when he’s on the box and his ability to read the situation, what the pitcher is trying to do to him in certain situations. … Like he’s watching at-bats after at-bats, sequencing and different situations,” Mendoza said. “He’s very vocal about it. He’s not afraid to go up to his teammates and share his thoughts and it says a lot. Who he is as a player, as a teammate, what he brings to the table. He’s been a game changer.”

Sean Manaea (4-3) fanned seven in five innings, giving up one run on a solo homer to rookie Jackson Merrill in the fourth that cut the Mets’ lead to 2-1. The left-hander bounced back to lower his ERA to 4.11 after giving up a combined 11 earned runs in his prior two starts.

Adam Ottavino, Jake Diekman and Sean Reid-Foley combined for three scoreless innings of relief to set the table for Díaz.

Brandon Nimmo was 2-for-3 with a run scored. Peter Botte of the New York Post reported that the outfielder has undergone additional concussion testing recently. He was hit by a pitch on the flap of his helmet on May 24 against the San Francisco Giants and entered Friday hitting .210 in 62 at-bats with 27 strikeouts since getting plunked.

The game started after a rain delay that lasted one hour and five minutes, pushing first pitch back to 8:15 p.m.

The ninth inning did not feature an error by the Mets first baseman like it did 37 years ago today.

Stat of the Game

Francisco Alvarez nailed Luis Arráez during the sixth inning for his first caught stealing in 12 throwing attempts this season. Opposing teams were 58 for 62 (94 percent) stealing bases against the Mets across the first 45 games of the season. Over the last 23 games, however, they are 14 for 23 (61 percent).

Player of the Game

Díaz threw 14 out of 21 pitches for strikes to seal the deal. He’s pitched two scoreless innings since returning to Queens from the injured list.

On Deck

Jose Quintana (1-5, 5.29 ERA) will look for his first win since April 11. He will face rookie right-hander Adam Mazur (0-1, 9.00 ERA), who is making his third career start. Mazur gave up eight runs over three innings in his last outing against the Arizona Diamondbacks. The game will air on WPIX at 4:10 p.m. ET.

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