Review Mets' plays at plate for lesson in how to do it

Less than 24 hours after the Mets lost their collective minds over a controversial, much-debated, super-subjective, game-losing call at the plate, Thursday’s matinee at Citi Field featured not one, but two more.

In back-to-back extra innings. With the potential winning runs at stake.

You really can’t make this stuff up.

If the Mets are going to be a .500 team, and Thursday’s 7-6 victory over the Cubs, capped by Francisco Lindor’s walkoff two-run double in the 11th, actually moved them back to one game over (16-15), then at least be entertaining about it.

Whatever their flaws, these Mets are drama kings. And the pulse-pounding suspense they provided from Pete Alonso being tagged out at the plate late Wednesday night to Starling Marte cutting down a pair of Cubs -- with tremendous, law-abiding tags by catcher Omar Narvaez -- Thursday afternoon was a white-knuckle, edge-of-your-seat spectacle.

“Just right on point,” Narvaez said of Marte’s bullets. “They hit them to the best arm in the outfield, so we’re pretty confident that he can make the plays. And we did it.”

Where do we begin? For context, rewind to the previous night, when Alonso thought he scored the tying run in the ninth inning with a headfirst slide, snaking his hand past catcher Miguel Amaya’s glove. But umpire Charlie Ramos saw things differently, immediately signaling out. And, after what felt like an interminable review (actually around four minutes), the verdict was no blocking foul by Amaya and the call stood (Alonso’s hand appeared to pop up off the dirt rather than touch the plate).

The abridged version of the postgame carnival that ensued: Mendoza insisted that Amaya was guilty of obstruction because his foot was squarely in the middle of the plate, though the MLB rule says that set-up is not automatically illegal, but rather a judgment call by the umpires. The Cubs? They patted themselves on the back for a perfectly executed relay to the plate.

In the wake of all the uproar, it’s important to note that the blocking rule is half written law, half common sense. Ultimately, it’s up to the umpire -- or MLB replay center, in Wednesday’s case -- to determine if the runner has an adequate lane to the plate. Everything else falls under the category of guidelines on how to avoid being penalized. Hence, the MLB memos, e-mails, etc. Standing on a piece of home plate is not an automatic trigger, despite Mendoza’s complaints.

After a 12-hour cooling-off period, Mendoza was anxious to move on Thursday morning rather than re-litigate that gut-wrenching loss. But we’re dredging it all up again to credit the Mets -- and Narvaez specifically -- for removing the umpires and MLB’s bureaucracy from the equation to seal Thursday’s comeback victory (they rallied from four runs back for the second time this season).

Narvaez put on a clinic at the plate with some textbook positioning that MLB should consider showing at the next rules committee happy hour. Made possible, of course, by two brilliant throws from Marte, who became the first Met to record multiple outfield assists in extra innings since Endy Chavez during that magical 2006 (regular) season.

The first was in the 10th inning, when Christopher Morel tried to score the go-ahead run on a medium-depth fly ball to Marte, who rifled a throw that Narvaez -- set up on the pitcher’s mound side of the plate -- snatched on the short hop to apply a sweeping tag. Morel had a lane. Just never got there.

“We practice that a lot in spring training and we always try to think about where we put our foot before the play happens,” Narvaez said. “I didn’t want to be that guy to get the (blocking) call. I will make sure that I’m in front and give the plate to the runner.”

Said Marte: “That was a great job by him. That first throw was a little bit difficult and kind of put him in an uncomfortable situation because of how it bounced.”

Little did the Mets realize they would need a second one in the 11th. This time, the Cubs already had taken a 6-5 lead on a double by Nick Madrigal -- the guy who delivered the Alonso-nabbing relay Wednesday night. But when Madrigal tried to score an insurance run, hustling from second base on Mike Tauchman’s two-out single, Marte came up huge again with another rocket to the plate.

Narvaez again set up in his legal spot, but Madrigal initially dived past both his tag and the plate. As umpire Chad Fairchild stood there without signaling, Narvaez scrambled back toward Madrigal, smothering his outstretched hand with his glove before Madrigal could get a finger on the plate. Finally, Fairchild gave the out call.

The Cubs challenged, both on a potential blocking violation and the tag, but the resolution came swiftly this time. No controversy. Nothing to argue here. Just surgical, by-the-book, game-saving execution by Marte and Narvaez.

“It’s baseball -- crazy,” Mendoza said. “I’m glad we were able to make those plays.”

Better for the Mets to be on the other side of them Thursday afternoon. And the right side of the plate, too.

By David Lennon

dave.lennon@newsday.comDPLennon

David Lennon is an award-winning columnist, a voter for baseball's Hall of Fame and has covered six no-hitters, including two perfect games.