Mets vault back into 3rd Wild Card spot on Alvy's HUGE go-ahead HR

CHICAGO -- As Francisco Alvarez’s go-ahead, two-run homer cleared the Wrigley Field ivy in the eighth inning Tuesday, the catcher paused at first base, turned to his teammates in the dugout and screamed. Vamos!

The outpouring of emotion fit the moment. Alvarez had just authored the most significant hit of New York’s season to date, leading the Mets to a 9-7 win over the Cubs and placing them back in control of their own playoff destiny. The victory, combined with the Reds’ loss to the Pirates, moved the Mets one game ahead of Cincinnati in the National League Wild Card race with five to play. The Diamondbacks are also just one game back after their win over the Dodgers.

More than all that, the win gave the Mets proof that maybe the sky is not falling. Maybe they can be the type of team they’ve long insisted they always have been, even as the losses piled up and the NL standings shifted shape.

“Realistically,” reliever Ryne Stanek said, “that feels like the moment we’ve been waiting for.”

It was a moment that did not seem particularly likely two hours earlier, when David Peterson served up five runs over 1 1/3 innings to thrust the Mets into an early hole. At a time of year when every game is essentially a playoff game, manager Carlos Mendoza made his move then and there, removing Peterson in the second despite the strain such an early hook would place on the bullpen.

“I can’t be thinking about tomorrow,” Mendoza reasoned afterward. “I’ve got to do what I’ve got to do here to win today.”

Thus began a parade of relievers, six in all, beginning with eight crucial outs from Huascar Brazobán and ending with a dominant two-inning Edwin Díaz save. All the while, the Mets prodded the Cubs in search of weaknesses, taking advantage of the fact that NL Rookie of the Year favorite Cade Horton departed after only three innings due to back discomfort.

New York’s opening finally came in the fifth, when Dansby Swanson booted a potential inning-ending double-play ball from Alvarez with the Mets trailing, 6-1. Three of the next four Mets hitters reached base, including Brandon Nimmo, who crushed a game-tying, three-run homer into the Wrigley Field wind.

Three innings after that, Brett Baty sparked the Mets with a single and Alvarez hit his go-ahead shot to cap New York’s largest comeback win of the season. When he did, he put his hands to his helmet, preened into the visiting dugout and howled, lacing his message with a good-natured expletive.

“What a huge moment in his young career,” Nimmo said. “Everybody forgets that he’s still only 23 years old. What a huge moment for him to rely on going forward and a big confidence-booster in a huge moment to come through like that.”

That Alvarez is even an active player is a minor miracle. Barely one month ago, he landed on the injured list with a sprained UCL in his right thumb, which will require surgery after the season. It will be Alvarez’s third operation in less than two years.

Almost immediately after doctors gave Alvarez permission to play through that injury, he broke his left pinky during a Minor League rehab assignment. Then, on the Mets’ last homestand, he took a 100 mph fastball off his left elbow. At the moment of impact, Mendoza thought his catcher was done for the year. Alvarez returned to the lineup the next day.

“There’s been a couple times that he gets jammed on a foul ball, and you can see the face,” Mendoza said. “We’re all feeling that pain for him, too. But it goes away right away, and he looks back to normal. It’s just pretty incredible. It’s hard to describe. This guy’s rock solid, man.”

Teammates describe Alvarez as one of the heart-and-soul pieces of this clubhouse, despite his young age and relative inexperience. Through four big league seasons, Alvarez has never quite established himself with any sort of consistency, due largely to the injuries that continue to affect him today.

And yet maybe he’s in the act of doing that now. Maybe this was the moment he had been waiting for, too.

“I’ll be honest: Nothing in terms of injuries ever crosses my mind when we’re out there playing,” Alvarez said through an interpreter. “The only thing I’m focused about is winning and getting back to the playoffs.

“Last year, we went to the playoffs, and we had a deep run. And I just loved the way that that felt. So that’s really what I’m focused on is just winning, making it back to the playoffs. Because I feel like this team deserves to be in the playoffs. Nothing else crosses my mind aside from that.”