FLUSHING, NY — In the New York Mets’ thrilling 6-3 win over the Pittsburgh Pirates, on Monday night, at Citi Field, the flamethrowing right-hander Edwin Díaz, recorded his fourth save of the 2024 season — marking a perfect four-for-four clip (4/4) in save opportunities on the year. On top of that, Monday’s save marked Díaz’ first-ever under Citi Field’s brand new LED system.
An LED Light Show while the Trumpets sound off, could it get much better than this?
Sound ‘em. 🎺 pic.twitter.com/9aTWl0DEoJ
— SNY (@SNYtv) April 16, 2024
“I felt amazing — seeing the lights, seeing the body of the fans — that’s really amazing,” Díaz told Latino Sports following the game. “As soon as they announced my name tonight, the stadium got crazy, so that made me feel really good and in that moment, it pulled me a little more to do my job pitching.”
Throughout his ninth inning of work, the 30-year-old, of Naguabo, Puerto Rico, totaled 18 pitches, 10 for strikes, and recorded one strikeout with a walk. Other than it being his first time under the new LED lights, Monday’s save was also Díaz’ 100th in his career as a New York Met — joining John Franco, Armando Benitez, Jeurys Familia, Jesse Orosco, and Billy Wagner, as the only other pitchers in the history of the Mets franchise to accomplish the feat.
And the ballgame is over! pic.twitter.com/vr1mmc9UDj
— SNY (@SNYtv) April 16, 2024
“Physically, mentally, and everything, I feel great man — I feel healthy,” said Díaz, the two-time LatinoMVP Reliever/Closer of the Year, who missed the entirety of the 2023 MLB season due to a horrific knee injury sustained in the World Baseball Classic.
“When they give me the ball, I am doing my job, so that’s really good. I have been able to bounce back really good after every outing so that’s something good.”
Regarding the final out, and the roar from all of 18,266 in attendance, Díaz stated: “When I saw the final out, the fly out, I was excited on how we got the win. We were down 3-0 in the sixth, and then, we came back in the eighth. We made a rally, and when I came into the game, I just said to myself: ‘we gotta stop them here and get the win.’”
Great win tonight 🔥🔥🔥🔥 #LFGM
— Edwin Diaz (@SugarDiaz39) April 16, 2024
Spoiler Alert: Díaz stopped them — mowing down the Pirates within four batters, as the Mets improved to 8-8 overall — winning their last eight-out-of-eleven games, following a rough 0-5 start to open the 2024 season.
“I think we got a really good thing going,” Díaz said. “Our first five games, we didn’t win the way we wanted to. After that, in our last eleven games, we won eight, so that’s something we were expecting. We got a really good team, good energy in the dugout, and the energy everywhere here is very good. We are expecting to win a lot of games this year.”
Robert Rizzo is a journalist and editor of Latino Sports – Email: RobertRiz994@gmail.com
Follow us on Social Media for updates and exclusive content
Instagram: @latinosportsoficial
Facebook: Latino Sports
Twitter: @latinosports
Julio
April 16, 2024 at 7:53 am
Great article for anyone who was not there to witness Diaz’ 100th. Save. Watching that light show must be something the fans really enjoy.