Mets' JD Martinez is ending the worst slump of his career at the perfect time

MILWAUKEE – Facing an opposing right-hander in Colin Rea, the most logical decision would have been to use left-hander Jesse Winker as the designated hitter.

Carlos Mendoza, however, chose resume over baseball rationality.

Hours before the game, the Mets manager added a prediction to justify JD Martinez's presence in the order.

“We signed this guy in the offseason for games like this,” Mendoza said of the righty slugger. “He’s done it before. He’s played in a lot of big games and it’s time for him to play a big game.”

“Huge” may be a stretch, but at least a big game followed.

The Mets signed the designated hitter for afternoons like Sunday's, when he went 2-for-5 with a double and scored a run in a 5-0 win over the Brewers at American Family Field that ensured the Mets were in Atlanta just needed a win on Monday to play baseball in October.

The Mets snapped a three-game skid and Martinez managed an abysmal 0-for-36 stretch to, the team hopes, finally wake up before it was too late.

The 37-year-old hadn't recorded a hit in nearly three weeks, his OPS dropping from .771 on Sept. 9 to .721 entering the game.

Sometimes he seemed lost looking at the plate; Sometimes he was unlucky.

This luck changed in the series finale.

After flying to the warning track in the first inning, Martinez escaped his worst drought of his career in the fourth inning.

Martinez sent a perfectly placed groundball down the third-base line that flew off the base itself and over the head of third baseman Joey Ortiz, after which a busy Martinez slid safely into second base.

By the time he looked toward the dugout to hear cheering airstrikes, nearly all of his teammates were in an uproar.

“You could feel the dugout and how the guys were standing on the top step, right there, right behind him,” Mendoza said of the respected 14-year major leaguer. “He is a good batsman. He is an elite hitter. This is the time for him to step up and he did that today.”

Martinez, who entered September's game with just three hits in 54 plate appearances, added a hard single to left field in the ninth inning, another good sign from a hitter who told Mendoza this week he believed with his swing to have made a breakthrough.

Martinez good-naturedly declined to discuss his slump and possible demise after his first multi-hit game since Aug. 30.

When his bat let him down, his words in the clubhouse usually helped.

“We can’t put pressure on ourselves,” Martinez said before a doubleheader in Atlanta that will decide the club’s postseason fate. “I've been saying this since we sucked and everyone kind of wrote us off. It's like, 'Dude, we're not under any pressure.' We shouldn't be here. “We just don’t come here and suddenly put pressure on ourselves.” ”

“It feels like it’s the third or fourth time I’ve said that. This team just plays better that way.”