The Mets got an amazin’ out en route to an extra-innings win

 

New York’s Daniel Murphy helped his team with his bat and his glove, but teammate Carlos Torres memorably used his foot. (Eric Hartline/USA Today Sports)

It’s getting to the point where it’s not news anymore that the Mets scored a lot of runs, never mind that they won a game and swept a series. The red-hot squad has been raking of late, to the tune of a team-record 73 runs in its past 10 games, and has won 21 of its past 29 contests to surge to a 6 1/2-game lead in the NL East.


But what stood out from Thursday’s victory was a defensive gem turned in by New York. The play occurred in the 10th inning, and even though the Mets went on to score four runs in the 14th to beat the Phillies, 9-5, it was the 1-3-1 putout that stood out.

With two outs and no one on, Philadelphia’s Andres Blanco Jeff Francoeur hit a line drive right back up the middle. New York relief pitcher Carlos Torres instinctively stuck his foot, causing the ball to ricochet over toward first base, where Daniel Murphy was barely able to corral it and flip it in desperation toward the bag. To the game announcers’ disbelief, the ball found the glove of Torres, who had sprinted over and just beat Blanco Francoeur to the base.