04/23/26 10:57:00
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04/23 22:55 CDT Devin Williams gets the win (and the save) after Mets bullpen
mixup
Devin Williams gets the win (and the save) after Mets bullpen mixup
By JERRY BEACH
Associated Press
NEW YORK (AP) --- Already struggling to win games, the New York Mets also had
difficulty figuring out which pitcher was supposed to be on the mound Thursday
night.
Closer Devin Williams headed to the mound from the bullpen to start the ninth
inning after Bo Bichette's go-ahead, three-run double. And Huascar Brazobn
walked back to the mound from the dugout.
Because Brazobn crossed the foul line, Williams was prevented from entering.
"Mistranslation there," Mets manager Carlos Mendoza said after his team hung to
beat Minnesota 10-8 for its second straight win. "The messaging there was if
it's tied, you're going to go back out. We take the lead, Devin's in the game.
The thing that got stuck to him was ?I'm going back out.'
"I speak Spanish. So I need to go and tell him to make sure he gets the message
there."
Brazobn gave up a two-out grand slam in the eighth to Ryan Jeffers as the
Twins knotted the score at 7 and completed their comeback from a pair of
five-run deficits.
In the dugout afterward, Mendoza told Brazobn that he'd only pitch the ninth
if the Mets didn't take the lead --- which they did on Bichette's double.
Yet with the lights dimmed at Citi Field for the bottom of the inning, Williams
headed to the mound from the bullpen as called for by Mendoza --- as Brazobn
simultaneously walked from the dugout back to the mound.
Asked what he thought watching Williams trot in, Brazobn delivered an answer
in Spanish --- punctuated by a profanity delivered in English with an
accompanying a laugh.
"The lights are going off, and I was like ?Wow,'" Brazobn said through
interpreter Alan Suriel "So that's when I realized.?
Brazobn retired Austin Martin on a groundout and Williams then relieved and
struck out Luke Keaschall.
"I was frustrated with myself for the prior inning," Brazobn said. "They told
me clearly if the game was tied, I'd go out. But if they took the lead, Devin
would come in. But I kind of stayed on autopilot
"Honestly, it was really my bad."
Brooks Lee singled and scored on Tristan Gray's single, and Bryon Buxton's
double put the potential tying run in scoring position. Williams (1-1) then
struck out Trevor Larnach --- just the sixth out recorded by Williams over the
last 20 batters he's faced, during which his ERA has risen from 0.00 to 10.29.
Williams was awarded the win because Brazobn pitched briefly and ineffectively
and surrendered the lead while throwing less than an inning.
The win was the second straight for the Mets after a 12-game losing streak ---
their longest since 2012. All-Star shortstop Francisco Lindor was placed on the
injured list prior to the game with a left calf injury suffered in Wednesday's
3-2 win --- when Juan Soto returned from a 15-game absence due to a right calf
injury.
"A lot happened there from the very beginning," Mendoza said. "But I'm glad
that we were able to get the job done tonight."
___
AP MLB: https://apnews.com/mlb
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