His age-34 season will likely best be remembered for the song, the post-game concert, and the OMG sign raised in the dugout after each Mets home run, but Jose Iglesias is providing plenty of memories on the field, too.
The latest example was his two-run single that put New York ahead for good Wednesday in a 6-2 victory over the Washington Nationals in front of 24,887 at Citi Field. He went 3-for-4 with a double, two runs scored and made a slick backhanded stop at third before throwing to first for the final out of the game.
“Just competing,” he said in a post-game, on-field interview with SNY. “We’ve feed off of the great fans. We just take it one day at a time.”
The Mets (46-45) sit a half-game back of the third Wild Card spot. When he arrived from Triple-A on May 31, they were 24-33. He’s hit .338/.373/.479/.852 and manager Carlos Mendoza has taken notice, penciling him into the starting lineup in eight of the last 10 games.
“I mean I just try to give my 100 percent every single day for this great team that we have,” Iglesias said. “And you know, I came through. The bullpen did a great job today. The whole team together and finally we got a W.”
Photo by Gregory Fisher-USA TODAY Sports
Iglesias is 10-for-19 with runners in scoring position, and he’s made a habit of coming up big against the Nationals.
On June 3, he broke a 4-4 tie against the Nats with an RBI single in an 8-7 Mets win. On July 1, his two-run homer in the 10th ended up being the difference in a 9-7 victory. The following night, he doubled in the ghost runner to start a five-run 10th in another extra-inning win.
Of course, his most memorable performance was on June 28 when Candelita sang “OMG” at Citi Field after a win against Houston. His debut single was No. 1 on Billboard’s Latin Digital Song Sales survey in its most recent week. The video has 230,000 views on YouTube. There was a Rolling Stone magazine article.
“Iglesias is just a little light for us,” Luis Severino told reporters. “Even when he’s not playing, you know we got his energy in the dugout. I’m the OMG sign when I’m not pitching so I’m ready to get that thing up there when everybody hit a homer. It keeps everybody happy, even when you having a bad day and somebody hits a homer we grab that sign. It feels like we gonna come back and win the game.”
Severino joked that pressure comes with being in charge of the sign, too.
“Sometimes I go inside and they hit a homer, Jesus Christ I’m not gonna make it.”
The post Iglesias Keeps Racking Up Hits appeared first on Metsmerized Online.
