Lucas Duda watched the ball soar into the night, his mouth agape, listening as the Citi Field crowd reacted. The fans had shot out of their seats, throwing their arms in the air as if they were on a roller coaster. And as Duda’s ball ricocheted off the facing of the second deck, they roared.
The home run was the Mets’ third in a span of four batters. Duda, usually a reserved person, smiled widely as he crossed home plate, and the fans kept standing, roaring, chanting.
Wanting to make a statement in a pivotal series, the Mets played as complete a game as they had all season.