NEW YORK -- It was Luke Weaver who, after the Mets snapped one of the longest losing streaks in franchise history last month, stood on the field, looked up at the Citi Field crowd and crowed, “I’m not the biggest guy in the room, but I ain’t scared of nobody.” It was also Weaver who, following a difficult loss to the Nationals on April 30, spoke quietly about the “freedom” of playing professional baseball “getting suffocated a little bit.”
Weaver gets it. Among the more thoughtful and eloquent players in the game today, Weaver understands how to act when things are going well for the Mets, and he knows the score when things are going poorly. As a high-leverage reliever, Weaver has been at the center of both extremes.
Saturday, Weaver found himself squarely in the middle of things again, entering in the seventh inning with the bases loaded, no outs and a two-run lead over his old team, the Yankees. He struck out Amed Rosario and Trent Grisham in succession to dull the threat, before inducing an inning-ending fielder’s choice from Anthony Volpe.
The Mets went on to win, 6-3 at Citi, taking a tiny bit of the sting out of Clay Holmes’ major leg injury.
They needed that one, especially given the context. Heading into the seventh with a three-run lead, the Mets began to lose their grip when Aaron Judge doubled and Carson Benge dropped a routine fly ball from Cody Bellinger, plating a run. Brooks Raley hit the next batter, before Jazz Chisholm Jr. popped a bunt over the pitcher’s mound for an unorthodox infield hit to load the bases.
Had the Mets gone on to lose at that point, their “LOL Mets” reputation would have only grown.
Instead, Weaver came on to extinguish the fire, giving the Mets a chance to win the first installment of the 2026 Subway Series behind Freddy Peralta on Sunday. Following his Houdini act in the seventh inning, Weaver went on to retire three more batters in the eighth, building a six-out bridge to closer Devin Williams.
He found plenty of help along the way from teammate Mark Vientos, who drove home three runs to pace the offense. Benge also rapped out a trio of hits, while Juan Soto reached base in all four of his plate appearances, stealing two bases and scoring once. David Peterson, meanwhile, struck out a season-high eight in a bulk relief role to earn the win.