Down in the Count, Mauricio Comes Up Big

Ronny Mauricio went 1-for-27 last season hitting in an 0-2 count. This year he is 1-for-1.

In his first at-bat of the season, Mauricio lined Paul Sewald‘s 90 mph fastball over Corbin Carroll‘s head in right field to bring home Francisco Lindor with the winning run in a 4-3 victory over the Diamondbacks on Tuesday in front of 34,753 chilly die-hards who braved 17 mph winds on a 50-degree day at Citi Field.

“Incredible,” Mauricio told reporters through a Spanish translator. “Honestly, it was incredible.”

After connecting for his first career walk-off RBI, Mauricio tossed his helmet and stuck out his tongue as he ran to first. The celebration was on. The first to greet him was Luis Robert Jr. He was doused with water and Francisco Alvarez gave him a hug.

He said being down two strikes didn’t change his thinking at the plate.

“It was the same approach,” he said. “I was just trying to get my pitch, a fastball, a fastball up. I was able to get that and I was able to execute on it. My focus was already to put the ball in play. Way before I even got to the plate. I was already preparing myself for that and that’s what it was. It was just put the ball in play and hopefully it drops in somewhere.”

Mauricio was brought up from Triple-A Syracuse after Juan Soto was placed on the injured list. He had a talk pre-game with manager Carlos Mendoza where he was told he won’t see a lot of action, but will get his chances.

“I took it well,” Mauricio said. “I was really appreciative of the conversation that we had. He was very clear, very transparent, obviously we know what the situation is right now, so right now I’m just here to help the team out in any way possible and I’ll be ready once my name is called.”

Mendoza said he was itching to use Mauricio from the seventh inning on because the Diamondbacks have a lot of right-handed relievers who are tough on right-handed hitters. Righties hit .216/.250/.432 vs. Sewald last year while lefties slashed .278/.341/.472.

“I’m proud of him,” Mendoza said. “I’m glad that he was able to get the job done. Big moment for him, for the team. Obviously, they know how hard it’s been for him. Not only going through injuries but the whole year itself last year when he didn’t play much. He goes down to Triple-A and he comes back up today and gets a huge hit for us.

“It goes to show you that we going to need everyone in here. Everyone that walks through those doors, you know. They are important and they going to contribute. We going to give everyone a chance.”

“This,” Mauricio said on the field to SNY, “is a 26-man group here, and I’m just here for whatever the team needs me to do. Whatever it is, I’m going to do it.”

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