Mets rally in ninth to end five-game losing streak on Omar Narvaez's walkoff single
Omar Narvaez of the New York Mets reacts after his winning hit against the San Francisco Giants at Citi Field on Sunday. Credit: Jim McIsaac
Hello, Kitty. Goodbye, losing.
The Mets, before an enthusiastic sellout crowd of 41,016 that was likely swelled by a light up “Hello Kitty” bobblehead giveaway, snapped a five-game losing streak on Sunday by scoring three in the ninth for a walkoff, 4-3 victory over the Giants at Citi Field.
With the Mets trailing 3-1, Harrison Bader — who earlier in the game stole a home run with a leaping grab over the centerfield wall — doubled home the tying runs.
Two batters later, Omar Narvaez floated a broken-bat, game-ending single past the drawn-in infield and into center as the Mets and the crowd celebrated wildly.
Narvaez got a Gatorade shower and even the Mets fans who didn’t get a bobblehead (only the first 15,000 did) went home happy.
It was Narvaez’s first Citi Field hit in 27 at-bats this season. The Mets (22-30) improved to 11-16 at home. Five of the wins have been of the walkoff variety, which is tied for tops in the majors with Baltimore and Miami.
For the Mets, who suffered dreadful late-inning defeats in the first two games of this series, it was nice to turn the tables.
“We needed that,” manager Carlos Mendoza said. “We needed that, especially how things have been going here as of late. For the guys to continue to have good at-bats in that ninth inning down two runs . . . it's huge.
“And, you know what? Credit to the fans, too. To the fan base because we felt the energy today. They stayed there till the ninth inning. It was a packed house and the guys feed off that. So credit to them because it hasn't been pretty, but just know that we continue to compete. So a shoutout to the fans.”
Actually, the fans were pretty crabby until the ninth. That’s when Brandon Nimmo and J.D. Martinez singled against sidearming righthander Tyler Rogers (0-1), who got the ninth after San Francisco closer Camilo Doval had pitched the previous two days and four of the last five.
After DJ Stewart lined out to right, Jeff McNeil was hit by a pitch to load the bases. Bader followed with a game-tying double down the leftfield line.
It was quite a day for Bader, who also had a first-inning RBI single.
After an intentional walk to Brett Baty, Narvaez ended things with his third career walkoff RBI and first since 2019
“It’s amazing right now,” said Narvaez, who entered the game in the ninth after Tomas Nido was removed for a pinch hitter.
The Mets had Mark Vientos on the bench as a possible pinch hitter, but since Narvaez was their only remaining catcher, he had to hit. The single upped his batting average to .164.
Narvaez wasn’t the only struggling Met to earn some redemption. The winning pitcher was Adrian Houser, who on Saturday was told he was getting sent to the bullpen for the second time this season.
Houser (1-4, 7.34 ERA) entered in the sixth and allowed one run in four innings. On his first pitch, Matt Chapman rocketed a first-pitch drive to right-center. Bader scaled the fence and brought back what would have been a home run.
Houser gave up a run later in the inning on two hits and an RBI groundout, but he settled down after that.
“I want to help this team as much as I can,” Houser said. “No matter what. I still think I’m a starter at the end of the day, but as much as I can help this team out, that’s what I want to do.”
Mets starter Sean Manaea was charged with two runs in five innings (88 pitches). Manaea gave up five hits, walked one and struck out six.
The Giants took a 1-0 lead with two outs in the second when Nido, in trying to catch Chapman off third base on a pitch that bounced in the dirt, fired well over the head of Baty and into leftfield for an error.
But the Mets flashed some impressive leather for the rest of the game. In addition to Bader’s wall-scaler, Baty made two outstanding plays at third base, one on a grounder to his left and one on the tarp on a pop-up down the third-base line. Houser added a gem on a bunt single attempt in the seventh.
“It goes to show you that they’re not going to give up,” Mendoza said. “They’re going to continue to play hard, they’re going to continue to compete, and we saw it.”
Anthony Rieber covers baseball, as well as the NFL, NBA and NHL. He has worked at Newsday since Aug. 31, 1998, and has been in his current position since July 5, 2004.
