Gutsy throw by Luis Guillorme keeps Atlanta off board

Things couldn’t get much sharper for the Mets on Saturday on a long but successful day at Citi Field.

From David Peterson’s radar gun-testing sinker in Game 1 of a doubleheader against Atlanta (it nearly hit 99 mph) to Max Scherzer’s electric strikeout total in Game 2 (he had 11), the Mets hit nearly every mark with the precision of a first-place team, recording 8-5 and 6-2 wins to open a 5 1⁄2-game lead over Atlanta in the NL East standings.

But perhaps sharpest of all were Luis Guillorme’s instincts.

Fielding a one-out grounder off the bat of Ehire Adrianza in the fifth inning of Game 2, Guillorme fired home to nail Travis d’Arnaud. The play kept Atlanta off the board in what then was a 3-0 game. Scherzer then struck out Ronald Acuña Jr. on a 95-mph four-seamer to end the biggest Atlanta threat to that point.

“Right off the bat, it was just going straight to [home],” Guillorme said. “I knew I had time, once I got the ball, to take a peek. I saw [d’Arnaud] didn’t fully take off right off the bat. I took another step to first and then I saw he fully went.

“It’s a tricky play because I have to make sure he fully commits to home because, if he doesn’t go right away and I get rid of it right away, he’s going to get back to third. The moment I saw him break home, I said, ‘Just throw it.’  

“Off the hand, I knew I had him,” Guillorme said. “I didn’t know how close it was going to be, but I felt really good about it.”

Guillorme may have had every idea what he was doing, but if so, he might have been the only one.

“I didn’t know what was going on,” Scherzer said. “Pitchers have a clock, too. For me, I was like, ‘What the hell was going on? You’re throwing this ball home? It’s 3-0, just take your out.’

“ .  .  . He had the best view in the house to be able to make that play. With his hands, his defense — it’s lights out, what he can do defensively. Kudos to him for making that play.”