Starling Marte walked off the Washington Nationals with a 10th-inning single Monday night, but knows his big moment doesn’t happen without Jose Iglesias, who came through in the clutch again.
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The 34-year-old is thriving in an especially high-leverage situation this year: two outs, runners in scoring position. That was the case when he stepped to the plate with the Mets down 1-0 in the eighth inning. Marte had just failed to bring home a runner from third, grounding to short off right-handed reliever Derek Law.
Iglesias hit a hard grounder up the middle that glanced off Law and came to a rest between the mound and second base. He was safe at first without a throw. The single made Iglesias 11-for-23 (.478) with a home run and 12 RBIs with two outs and men in scoring position. His OPS in that spot is 1.147.
“He’s been super important since the day he’s come in,” Marte told SNY through an interpreter in a post-game interview on the field. “He’s brought the energy, he’s brought the support, even with the OMG sign. He’s brought that consistency and it kind of elevated all of our energy here. So in reality, he was the one who won the game today because after I swung at the first pitch and made the out, he was the one who tied up the game there.”
A reporter asked manager Carlos Mendoza, given the injuries to Jeff McNeil and Francisco Lindor, where would the Mets be without him?
“That’s a good question,” he said. “I don’t know. But not only up the middle. He plays third base. And then just the at-bats and the energy, his preparation. Part of the winning baseball and the conversations that go behind the scenes, he’s pretty involved in those. He’s done it.”
“All around,” Iglesias told reporters, “it was a great team win. It was pretty special. It definitely get us together. It’s playoff atmosphere. Playoff baseball, it’s going to be tight game. It’s always going to come down to attention to detail. So you know tonight it was a great win for us.”
Iglesias is on a 10-game hitting streak, during which he’s gone 14-for-36 (.389). He’s slashing .323/.372/.436 in 239 plate appearances for the year.
“I think we got something good going,” he said. “I’m just glad to be part of it. So one day at a time, I always say that. Like one day at a time. And I’m going to maximize, I’m going to have as much fun as I can every single day.”
With Lindor out, “one day at a time” feels as important as ever. He could be back tomorrow. Or, he could be out until the Atlanta series next week. But the energy will be there at the top of the lineup still with Iglesias. Now, the rest of the team needs to catch up.
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