Daniel Duarte secures unlikely save for Mets

Pitching for the first time in five days, Williams did not have it. He nearly blew a four run lead, but was bailed out by a critical outfield assist from Brett Baty and beautiful sliding play by Marcus Semien to end this game. Otherwise, he showed poor command the Pirates were teeing off on him. He dealt with a bout of arm fatigue earlier this according to Mets brass, so it was at least nice to see him back on the mound.

This certainly explains why Daniel Duarte got the call to close out the Guardians with a one-run lead in the 10th inning. Williams hasn’t pitched since throwing 14 pitches in a non-save situation over the weekend. Green added that they expect him to be available for Thursday’s contest, which is encouraging news for fantasy managers.

Yan receives his first opportunity in the majors in the wake of New York’s fire sale at the trade deadline. The 29-year-old, who is best known for his theatrics on the mound, signed a minor league deal with the Mets last August. He’ll be making his big-league debut when he gets into a game.

As always, Williams made things interesting in the ninth inning by allowing a leadoff walk to Heriberto Hernandez. He battled back though to strike out Griffin Conine and Jakob Marsee before getting Javier Sanoja to pop out to second base to end it. Williams continues to bring his ratios down as the season progresses, now sporting a still unsavory 4.29 ERA and 1.63 WHIP to go with his 16 saves in 19 attempts.

Williams struck out one and allowed one hit as New York took the first of the doubleheader. He’s remained the team’s locked-in closer all year despite another ERA over 4. There just haven’t been as many save opportunities as projected entering the season. The Angels are the only team with fewer saves than the Mets, capping Williams’ chances. It doesn’t help that he hasn’t returned to his Milwaukee form, as some expected following his lone season with the Yankees.

Duarte will begin his fourth stint in the Mets pen this season. He pitched a total of five scoreless innings during the first three.

Williams took over with a 4-1 advantage and tore right through the heart of the Phillies’ lineup, getting Bryce Harper on a ground ball to second base, Brandon Marsh on a line drive to left and Alec Bohm on strikes to end it. It has been a rough season overall for the Mets’ closer, sporting a 4.73 ERA, 1.67 WHIP and a 44/19 K/BB ratio over 32 innings while converting 14 of his first 17 save chances.

Williams gave up a leadoff single, but he then got a routine double play ball with one out, only for Francisco Lindor to boot it and retire no one. Two walks followed, with the second forcing in a run. Jarren Duran then hit a little popup behind second that dropped in. It was a ball that the second baseman would have handled if the infield hadn’t been drawn in, and Carson Benge came up just a tad short of catching it while racing in from right. That tied the game before Masataka Yoshida lined into a double play to prevent further damage. It’s Williams’ second blown save in a week, but while he owns the walks, this was much more Lindor’s doing than his.

It was mostly just job well done by the Braves. Ozzie Albies hit a double on a changeup low and out of the zone, and Matt Olsen followed by taking a 95-mph fastball up in the zone out the other way to left. The homer was the third allowed by Williams this season. He’ll certainly be down on Tuesday after throwing 52 pitches the last two days. Unless the Mets want to use Luke Weaver for a third straight day, Huascar Brazobán could close.

Williams thought he had the day off with the Mets up 10-3 in the ninth, but aided by some shoddy defense, the Braves scored five runs off Huascar Brazobán. Williams came in with one out and the bases empty after a Drake Baldwin grand slam and struck out Ozzie Albies before giving up three straight hits. The second of those should have been the third out, but Jared Young and Williams got too deliberate trying to pull off a 3-1 groundout and Michael Harris II beat it out. Williams finally finished off the game by striking out Dominic Smith with the winning run on second. It’s Williams’ 13th save in 14 tries. He threw 22 pitches, but since he did have four days off coming into this one, he’ll probably be available on Monday.