Diaz's 99-mile speedball strikeout Yankees captain Judge Mets equalized the subway battle

At the Citi Field sauna earlier this week, Pete Alonso had encouraging words of encouragement for Edwin Díaz: "Brother, you've been in great form lately. Diaz responded that he felt good. "Hold on," Alonso continued, "and do it." "

Three days later, Diaz stepped up to the pitcher mound at Yankee Stadium to hold on to Francisco Lindor's one-point lead over a high-flying sacrifice in the ninth inning. Plagued by a drop in ball speed and inaccuracy at the start of the season, he delivered one of the most dominant performances of the season: against the Yankees' center line, Diaz struck out Aaron Judge with a 99mph speedball to win the 3-2 game with a perfect three-up and three-down to help the Mets equalize the aggregate score in the second game of the Metro battle.

"Now," Diaz said after the game, "I'm doing whatever I want on the pitcher's mound." At the start of the season, Diaz averaged just around 95mph in speedballs and made six guarantees in four consecutive games in mid-April. Between April 2 and May 5, there was only one non-hitter or non-guaranteed game in 13 games. The turning point came when he adjusted his pitching mechanics – instead of pursuing extreme angles and instead aiming for the center of home plate, relying on the natural displacement of the ball to solve the hitters.

When Alonso affirmed himself in the sauna, Diaz had regained his form from his 2022 All-Star season. Prior to this battle, he had dealt with 12 of the 13 hitters in a row. And on Saturday night, he pushed his form to new highs: against Austin Wells with three speedballs (100.2mph, 99.7mph, 100.3mph); Let Ben Rice hit the infield flyball; In the final matchup against Judge, he took a 0-2 lead with two sliders and finally used a 99mph inside corner speed ball to lag his swing.

"He's found his rhythm," commented Mets pitching coach Jeremy Hefner. The image of Diaz beating his chest and roaring after striking out Judge became the best footnote in this New York derby. Lindor scored the winning point on the nine-inning run to break the deadlock for the third time this season (both in the nine-innings or in the play-off). Alonso, who contributed two hits and one dozen points, said calmly about the frenetic atmosphere at the Yankees' home stadium: "The sound at Citi Stadium in the National League division last October was even more shocking, and there were at most three places here. "

When Judge came on as a potential equalizer in the ninth inning, the court decibels peaked. But with Diaz's decisive strikeout, the hustle and bustle fell silent. "It's fun to finish the game against the best hitter," Diaz said, "and I just focus on every shot." After this game, Diaz has cashed in all 10 rescue opportunities this season. Hefner points out that the playoff atmosphere of the Metro Wars brings out its potential: "It's the kind of matchup that forces both sides to be at their best. "