The Mets ninth-inning comeback ended with Brandon Nimmo’s blast, but it started with Jeff McNeil’s leadoff drag bunt.
McNeil entered the at-bat without a hit — and knowing he hadn’t had much success in his career against Atlanta’s A.J. Minter.
So after taking one big swing “to see if I could drive something into the gap,” McNeil changed his approach and bunted the next pitch past Minter, on the right side of the mound.
Second baseman Ozzie Albies had no chance on the play and the Mets suddenly found themselves set up to at least have a chance to tie the game.
Instead, they won it, with Nimmo’s game-winning homer giving them a 4-3 victory at Citi Field on Sunday.
“Credit to McNeil, leading off the inning with the bunt, left on left,’’ manager Carlos Mendoza said.
Tomas Nido bunted McNeil to second and Brandon Nimmo, who started the game on the bench after experiencing intercostal irritation Saturday, won it with a two-run homer that ended the night and avoided an Atlanta sweep.
McNeil said he’d been waiting for much of the series to lay down a bunt, since he noticed that Atlanta was “giving it to me.”
McNeil opted for his final at-bat on Sunday.
“I wanted to wait for the right situation to do it,’’ McNeil said. “You don’t want to waste it up a few runs or down a few runs.”
And he added the fact he had been hitless in his previous nine at-bats factored into the move.
“I haven’t been feeling too great at the plate,’’ said McNeil, who also had an OPS of just .474 in 19 career at-bats against Minter. “I know that’s always in my back pocket when I want it so I decided to pull it out.”
He got a fastball up and in and the comeback was on.
It also helped that after Nido bunted him over, the top of the lineup was coming up.
Although Starling Marte has struggled lately, Francisco Lindor and Pete Alonso, batting third and fourth, respectively, have heated up lately and had two hits apiece on Sunday.
Perhaps Nimmo’s dramatic homer will be the hit that gets the Mets’ season going in the right direction again.
And if it does, McNeil’s bunt will have helped it along.
