Mets get the effective Edwin Diaz in key win over Diamondbacks
By Mike Puma,
2024-08-30
PHOENIX — Edwin Diaz made it look all too easy Thursday.
This wasn’t the closer who had imploded the previous night or three days before that by allowing game-changing home runs.
Three Diamondbacks batters came to the plate in the ninth inning on this day, and Diaz retired them all (two by strikeout) in the Mets’ 3-2 victory at Chase Field .
Diaz said he consulted with pitching coach Jeremy Hefner after his latest letdown and decided a mechanical change was needed.
Diaz appreciated the fact that he got to pitch again immediately rather than have to wait for another opportunity.
“It means a lot because we are playing in playoff [type] games and this team needs me,” Diaz said. “I have got to be ready every day, and I have got to do my job always. Today was a good bounce-back day, and I have to keep going now — keep getting outs and keep winning games.”
Diaz, who has converted just 15 of 21 save opportunities this season — he also had a disastrous May — said the previous night’s performance had left his consciousness as he entered for the ninth inning Thursday.
The Mets broke a 2-2 tie in the top of the inning on Jose Iglesias’ RBI single.
“I can flush everything right away,” Diaz said. “I went out there after I talked to Hefner. I knew what I was doing badly, and I just came today with a new mentality. I just did my job.
“This was a great series for us. Even though we lost [Wednesday], we came back and won the series against a good team. We have just got to come back and do what we have been doing and we’ll be fine.”
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