NEW YORK — Of the 55 players who have played for the Mets this season — one shy of a franchise record — many unlikely heroes have emerged. The Mets have won games because of names you never expected to wear blue and orange this season.
On a night in late July, Brandon Drury came off the bench in a tie game in the bottom of the seventh and launched a two-out, go-ahead home run off Braves starter Max Fried. The moment, improbable as it may have been months ago, seemed normal now because this is the way the season has gone for these Mets, who have had to rely on contributions from everyone.
Drury’s pinch-hit homer gave the Mets a 2-1 victory that evened the series with a game to play. Through 100 games, the first-place Mets are 54-46.
Drury gave the Mets a lead before Jeurys Familia and Michael Conforto saved the day. Familia escaped a jam in the eighth to protect a one-run lead, while Conforto threw out the would-be tying run at home for the second out of the ninth.
Since the Mets called him up less than a week ago, Drury is 6 for 6 with two doubles, two home runs and three RBIs.
Drury, who entered the game with baseball's third-best batting average for pinch-hitters with a minimum of 10 plate appearances in those spots, is now 7 for 15 with three home runs off the bench this season.
Perhaps you never saw it coming in spring training, but he's provided value for the Mets. His playing time has diminished, but he's stuck around — even though he could've been a candidate to be designated for assignment with all the recent moving parts.
While Drury's blast gave the Mets the lead, Aaron Loup — who has a stellar 1.38 ERA this season — put that one-run advantage in jeopardy when he allowed consecutive singles to begin the eighth. After Loup faced the required third batter, manager Luis Rojas removed him from the game and summoned right-hander Jeurys Familia.
Waiting for Familia in the batter's box: Austin Riley, who homered twice on Tuesday and once more on Wednesday. He had runners on second and third, a perfect opportunity to give his team the lead.
In a pressure spot, Familia struck out Riley before getting a groundout to end the inning.
In the ninth, closer Edwin Diaz gave up a leadoff double to Abraham Almonte. Two batters later, Almonte tried to go from second to home on a single into right, but Conforto fired a perfect strike to James McCann to get him at home. With a man on second, Diaz got Pablo Sandoval to fly out to end the game.
Drury's late-game heroics may not have been possible had starter Tylor Megill not pitched so well — again. What would the Mets — who have suffered multiple injuries in their starting rotation — do without Megill? That's a question they probably would rather leave unanswered.
Megill, who on Wednesday turned 26 years old, has been a gem for this club.
The rookie, who hadn't allowed a run since July 10, pitched five scoreless innings on Wednesday before Riley took him deep. Still, Megill has a 2.04 ERA through seven starts since the Mets called him up out of necessity.
