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Diaz (6-4) blew the save but picked up the win in the first game of Monday's doubleheader against Atlanta, giving up two runs on three hits and a walk over 1.2 innings. He struck out two.
With both teams needing at least one win in the twin bill to lock up a wild-card spot, the matinee featured a wild, desperate finish that saw 12 of the game's 15 runs cross the plate over the final two innings. Diaz came on with one out and two on in the eighth, and after retiring Gio Urshela, the Mets' closer missed his chance to escape the frame unscathed when he was late covering first base on a Jarred Kelenic grounder down the line that Pete Alonso dove to stop well behind the bag. Atlanta wound up taking a 7-6 lead, but when New York tacked on two more runs in the top of the ninth, Diaz was able to slam the door shut. It was his first blown save since Aug. 28, and only the second time in 13 September appearances that the right-hander had been scored upon. Diaz heads into the playoffs with a 1.93 ERA, 1.00 WHIP and 26:5 K:BB over 14 innings in the final month of the regular season.
