MLB

Mets rally in ninth, enter Subway Series on high note

The Mets may have earned a few signatures from their disgruntled fan base Sunday afternoon for their “True New Yorkers” loyalty letter ahead of Monday’s Subway Series against the Yankees.

In the throes of a deep funk, they avoided a sweep at the hands of the Phillies with some ninth-inning magic, rallying from three runs down, to pull out a 5-4 victory in 11 innings and end a five-game losing streak on Mother’s Day at Citi Field.

“I think this is the game that turns it all around,” starter Jon Niese said. “It gives us great energy going into a great rivalry. The Subway Series is going to be fun. We just got to continue winning games like we did [Sunday].”

Demoted to a reserve role Friday night, shortstop Ruben Tejada drove home Chris Young, a key figure in the ninth-inning uprising, in the 11th with the winning run as the Mets won for the first time in a week. Tejada laced the first pitch he saw from Jeff Manship into the gap in left-center field and was mobbed by teammates in short right-center field, a feel-good moment for the benched shortstop.

“Let’s finish the game,” Tejada said he thought as he strode to the plate, only playing because Wilmer Flores was ill. “My mentality is to come here and get ready no matter what happened.”

The victory couldn’t come at a better time for manager Terry Collins’ struggling club, with the four-game Subway Series on tap. Rather than enter the annual rivalry embroiled in a funk, the Mets have some momentum going into Monday night’s clash in The Bronx.

“The energy in the Subway Series is an animal of its own, but to go in a positive note is big,” Collins said. “Especially to get us off what happened here in the last six days.”

After a frustrating first 8 Âą/â‚‚ innings, in which the Mets (17-19) stranded 11 runners on base and nine in scoring position in continuing to fail in the clutch, they staged a stunning rally.

Daniel Murphy followed Eric Young Jr.’s double leading off the ninth inning with a two-run blast, his second home run the year, against Antonio Bastardo. After Chris Young missed a game-tying shot by inches — his double hit the top of the wall in left field to snap an 0-for-18 streak — pinch-hitter Bobby Abreu singled off Chase Utley’s glove against reliever Roberto Hernandez. Juan
Lagares drove in the tying run with a ground out to shortstop.

“It gives you a whole different feel moving forward in trying to get things back on track,” Young said. “The clubhouse today compared to the clubhouse the last two days, it’s like night and day.
And it puts us on a good note getting ready for the Yankees.”

Scott Rice (1-1) picked up the win in relief, part of a maligned bullpen that offered five strong innings of one-hit, one-run ball in support of Niese. The left-hander delivered another quality outing, allowing eight hits and three runs in six innings while striking out six.

The Mets owned last year’s Subway Series, sweeping all four games from the Yankees. And they didn’t enter that series playing their best baseball either, losing five of six games before the showdown, just like this year.

“When you walk into a stadium in New York City there’s a different energy level,” Collins said. “When you play each other, it’s something you got to experience.

“I think our guys relish the challenge ahead of them.”