Mets’ Brandon Nimmo has a big night in first place

Brandon Nimmo could have played his last game as the Met on Saturday night.

Instead, he did just about everything he could to keep the Mets season alive for at least another day.

Nimmo reached base four times, going 3 for 4 with a walk and an RBI in the Mets’ 7-3 victory over the Padres in Game 2 of the NL wild-card series at Citi Field.

Francisco Lindor in the first inning and Pete Alonso in the fifth hit big solo home runs to give the Mets the lead. But in between, Nimmo delivered his own hit in the fourth inning, a line single to left field to give the Mets a 2-1 lead.

Nimmo’s third single of the night (each of them went to the opposite field) knocked out left-handed San Diego starter Blake Snell from the game after 3 ¹/₃ innings and 90 pitches.

« I wasn’t necessarily trying to go that direction, but the swings and where the throws were dictating where it was going, » said Nimmo, who has the Mets’ second-longest tenure but is a pending free agent. . “So I was happy to see all three of them training with me at the base. Especially the last one, glad I can drive that [run] It was more a product of where the pitch was and where I caught it.

He led early in the first with a line drive that just passed third baseman Manny Machado for a single. It was however quickly erased when Starling Marte found themselves in a hard hit double play.

Nimmo then recorded a field single along the third base line in the second inning to put the runners at first and second for Lindor, who blew away.

In the sixth inning, Nimmo worked a full count against Padres reliever Nick Martinez and tied the game, despite being blocked early.

It wasn’t lost on left-handed hitter Nimmo as his three hits Saturday came against southpaw Snell after he faced questions earlier in his career about whether he could hit left-handers.

“Hard work pays off,” Nimmo said. “It’s good to know that it still exists. You don’t just have to stick to the labels given to you from the start. If you work hard enough and really focus on something, you can achieve great things. I was able to do a little and I’m very, very proud of it. Don’t always believe the labels people put on you.

Now Nimmo has a chance Sunday to help earn more time in a Mets uniform no matter what happens this offseason.

« It’s going to be a lot of fun, » Nimmo said. “We eliminated the first two games and now it’s pretty much like the old format. This will be this wildcard of a match. I was lucky in 2016 to feel that atmosphere, so I’m going to leverage that experience of being in the shelter for that.