Ike Davis offered up his response to Mets management Saturday, and it was a loud one.
Davis belted a pinch-hit grand slam in the bottom of the ninth inning to give the Mets a 6-3 win over the Reds just a day after manager Terry Collins announced Lucas Duda would start over him at first base.
“That’s basically going to be my role, so that’s going to be every game,” Davis said of being ready to come off the bench. “I’m obviously not going to hit a home run every time, but I have to be ready for those big at-bats and hopefully I can take advantage of them.”
The Davis dramatics came after a successful replay challenge by Collins and a meltdown by new Reds closer J.J. Hoover in the ninth.
Hoover, who is subbing for the injured Aroldis Chapman, walked Juan Lagares to start the inning.
Anthony Recker then attempted to lay down a sacrifice bunt. Reds first baseman Joey Votto threw to second to get Lagares and he was called out. Collins made his first challenge under the new rule and was successful in getting the call overturned. Hoover then walked Ruben Tejada to bring up Davis.
Hoover threw a 0-1 curveball that didn’t break and came in at 73 mph. Davis drilled as if he were hitting off a tee, and the ball hit the facing of the right-field porch to give the Mets their second straight win.
“That was a tremendous ending, especially for Ike with going through what he’s going through. To come in a big situation and come through, it’s great stuff,” Collins said.
The Mets opted to give Duda the starting first base job after alternating for the first three games between Davis, Duda and Josh Satin. Collins told Davis on Thursday night and Davis, who hit 32 home runs two years ago, has had to adjust to his new role.
“There’s only so many starters in the major leagues and there’s a whole lot of bench players that are here to do a job, too,” Davis said. “I’ve just got to take it in stride and try to help the team win from the bench. A lot of people have to do it and it’s just my role right now.”
Davis will start at first base Sunday in the series finale against the Reds, but that was planned days ago.
The Mets needed the rally after starting pitcher Dillon Gee gave up a two-run home run in the eighth inning to Brandon Phillips. The homer came on Gee’s 100th pitch of the game and put the Reds up, 3-2.
Gee had pitched well to that point, giving up a solo home run earlier in the game but not much else. He pitched 7 ¹/₃ innings, allowing three runs on six hits while striking out four and walking one.
“It’s tough to put into words how frustrating it is,” Gee said of Phillips’ homer. “You just want to break something at that point. You’ve got to give the credit to all the guys in here who picked me up twice today.”
Reds starter Johnny Cueto kept the Mets hitless until the fifth inning, when Tejada broke through with a double. Cueto struck out nine Mets and it looked like the Mets’ bats would never awaken.
The Mets snapped out of it with a Curtis Granderson two-run home run in the sixth inning that put them ahead 2-1. It was Granderson’s first homer as a Met. He took Cueto’s 3-2 pitch and deposited into the second deck in right field.
But Saturday afternoon, Davis was the story.
Collins admitted he was unsure how he would react to being benched after being a starter for his entire career. He was happy with the early returns.
“One of my biggest concerns in Ike’s case when he found out we were going to look at Lucas was how was he going to approach being a bench player,” Collins said, “because it certainly is a shock a little bit that you’re not wanted, nobody likes you and to be on the bench and be ready to come up in the clutch situation it takes concentration. He was ready to do it.”