Brandon Nimmo wasn’t scheduled to play Tuesday after suffering a fainting spell in his hotel room Monday morning, but the Mets outfielder provided his team exactly what they needed when they needed it against the Nationals.
After Harrison Bader crashed into the fence and was replaced by Nimmo, the longtime Met was clutch.
Down 2-1 in the eighth, Nimmo laced a 98 mph fastball to left field to drive home Francisco Lindor as the tying run. The heroics wouldn’t end there, as Nimmo followed a run-scoring double from Jose Iglesias in the 10th inning with a double of his own to give the Mets some insurance runs.
Of course, the Mets would add some more runs in the 10th to ultimately win 7-2, but it could have been a different story without Nimmo.
“You never know how a game is going to work out but glad to be able to come through in those situations for those guys,” Nimmo said after the game. “It’s definitely fun playing right now.”
Nimmo said that he went through his pregame routine and once he got through hitting in the cage and felt normal, he told manager Carlos Mendoza he was available. The first-year skipper didn’t start Nimmo, but once Bader was shaken up, he knew he could go to him.
“He saw he was ready to go and we saw it,” Mendoza said.
Nimmo said that his fainting episode put things in perspective for him.
“Feels amazing,” Nimmo said. “When things like this happen, it’s a fresh perspective on being able to play this game and at this level on a daily basis. When it’s taken away from you, briefly, you realize how special it is and enjoy the little things a little bit more.”
Prior to missing Monday’s game, Nimmo was one of the Mets’ hottest hitters. In the five games prior, he was 5-for-18 with six walks, two home runs and seven RBI. Nimmo said he is glad he got to play in Tuesday’s game and not being out of the lineup for too long helped him at the plate.
“When you’re swinging the bat well you want to be playing. To get back to it quickly is key. You want to stay in the game speed of things,” he explained. “To get back there is huge. It helped me acclimate to [Tuesday’s] game.”
The Mets (42-41) have now won seven of their last 10 games and are just one game back of the final Wild Card spot. If the Mets do make it to the postseason, it’ll be nights like Tuesday that will be fondly remembered.
Nimmo most certainly will.
“Getting on second base after the big double and getting the big hits, just soak them in because not every day is like that.”
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