Mets' Edwin Díaz struggles in Game 2 but feels “fine” after recent heavy use.

PHILADELPHIA – In a lineup that relies on fastballs, Philadelphia Phillies second baseman Bryson Stott stands out as an outlier who struggles with velocity.

But in the eighth inning of Game 2 of the National League Division Series, New York Mets closer Edwin Díaz served a bunch of sliders to Stott. It's likely that others in a Mets uniform preferred fastballs, especially given the situation: New York up one run, two on base, one out, 1-1 after two 99-mph heaters. Instead, Stott saw four straight sliders. The final hit caught too much of the plate and Stott hit it for a two-run triple.

From there, the Mets turned to Tylor Megill. They had asked Díaz to at least record the final out after the seventh inning and then get through the eighth. He only lasted the final of the seventh round and one round of the eighth round.

The Mets responded in the ninth, tying the score thanks to Mark Vientos' second home run of the game, but it wasn't enough. Phillies outfielder Nick Castellanos singled off Megill to lift Philadelphia to a 7-6 win over New York on Sunday night.

Now the best-of-five series moves to Citi Field, where there will be one game at a time. Mets outfielder Brandon Nimmo said if they had been asked to leave here with a split before the series, they probably would have accepted the split. That's understandable. But New York was also so close to leaving the game with only one game left to win. The assumption here is that feelings change and they wouldn't have set themselves up to lose the way they did when their best substitute came out on top.

The birthday child on his birthday for the main role pic.twitter.com/kx6QaQIeLh

— Philadelphia Phillies (@Phillies) October 6, 2024

Mets manager Carlos Mendoza made the right move by using Díaz when he did. They didn't have setup options like Phil Maton and Ryne Stanek. Díaz came into the game with two on, two out in the seventh inning and struck out Kyle Schwarber, whom he had done well against, with a slider to end the threat. In the eighth period of the game things weren't going quite as well.

So what to make of Díaz's struggles? Pitch sequencing against Stott didn't help, although Díaz said he feels good about his slider given his recent success on the pitch. In the top of the eighth inning, Díaz walked Bryce Harper and failed to bat out Castellanos, who singled. Díaz said he “made a really good pitch to Castellanos.” It just didn't work out.

“His slider is a little further on the arm side than we would like right now,” Mets pitching coach Jeremy Hefner said. “The bike is here. He's still ahead of the batsmen by a pretty good margin. Not much different. We just need to get the slider to the glove side more often.”

Confidence doesn't seem to be a problem.

“I’m 100 percent confident,” Díaz said. “It's part of the game. We're playing against a really good team. They have a really good lineup. I just have to rinse it and be ready on Tuesday.”

So tired? That could be part of it.

Although he fought back, some, including rival scouts, wondered how much the fatigue affected Díaz, who averaged 98.8 mph with his fastball — an increase of just a tick — but the field only threw eight of 25 times.

“It definitely looked like he was a little tired and didn’t finish,” one scout said. “I wonder how the effort and emotions wore him down last week.”

In the last eight days, Díaz has thrown 130 pitches.

The Mets had been cautious all season against Díaz, who missed all of last year after knee surgery. A few weeks ago, Mendoza said it was “big boy time.” Most of the time, Díaz answered the call. The Mets don't have many reliable options in front of them, making it difficult at times to get the last nine or so outs. On Sunday evening they followed one of their favorite plans. It just didn't work out.

“I’m fine,” Díaz said. “I was able to work. This is a big moment for us. I always have to be ready.”

(Photo: Hunter Martin/Getty Images)