Luis Torrens Heroics Help New York Mets Escape London with ‘W’
If you hadn’t heard of Luis Torrens, now you have. The New York Mets catcher, who was called up a week ago to replace an injured Tomas Nido played the role of the hero in London on Sunday afternoon.
With the Mets clinging to a 6-5 lead over the Philadelphia Phillies, who had the bases loaded with one out, Torrens stepped up and made one of the best plays of the season. On a broken bat dribbler in front of the plate by Nick Castellanos, Torrens sprang up from behind the plate, picked up the ball to step on home for one out, and then threw a dart to first to complete the double-play and end the ballgame.
It had to be seen to be believed!
The victory salvaged what was turning into a rather embarrassing weekend overseas for the Amazin’s. Philadelphia crushed the Mets 7-2 in the opener on Saturday. Bryce Harper rubbed it in New York’s face by mimicking an English soccer player scoring a huge goal, when he crushed a home run, and overall Mets fans were drowned out and outnumbered at London Stadium.
Sunday was off to a poor start as New York found itself trailing for most of the day until the ninth inning.
That is when the Phillies had a rare implosion. Reliever Jose Alvarado just didn’t have it. He gave up the lead on an infield single to Mark Vientos on a chopper that bounced awkwardly toward Alec Bohm. Alvarado later hit Pete Alonso with a pitch to drive in a run with the bases loaded. Finally, he tossed a wild pitch that catcher J.T. Realmuto couldn’t handle, scoring Jose Iglesias with the go-ahead run.
The New York Mets will take it any way they can at this point. And certainly, the Mets fans in the U.K. will take it too.
The Mets (28-36) have won six of their last nine games, and return to New York on Tuesday to begin a critical home stand against the Miami Marlins and San Diego Padres. New York, despite all its problems, is just three out in the wild card.
