QUEENS, NY — It’s second nature for professional athletes to tune out a crowd regardless of the situation, but Mets reliever Austin Warren was taken aback when the Citi Field erupted into cheers, regardless of sarcasm, when he pumped a first-pitch sweeper on the outside corner to Minnesota Twins third baseman Royce Lewis.
The 30-year-old right-hander, who had been called up on April 14 from Triple-A, was called in for mop-up duty in what was his second appearance of the season. Closer Devin Williams walked three in the top of the ninth inning of a 3-3 game, including the Twins’ second run of the inning that put the visitors ahead 5-3. It was on Warren to limit the damage — a tall task given the bases were still loaded with no one out.
He needed just three pitches to strike Lewis out, getting the righty swinging on a 94 mph fastball high and outside the zone. That’s when Mets fans at Citi Field, watching their team on an 11-game losing streak and facing loss No. 12, began “MVP” chants for Warren.
“I usually block out everything, but I don’t know what it was that night,” Warren told amNewYork on Sunday. “Literally from pitch one, I threw a strike, and it like, erupted. I was like ‘Alright.’ I heard the boos all night, and we were deserving of that. But I punched the first guy out, and I literally heard the MVP chants. I fed off that, for sure. It was nice knowing the fans weren’t checked out.”
Warren needed just four pitches to get Twins shortstop Brooks Lee swinging on an 85 mph curveball in the dirt, then he came back from 2-0 down to get slugger Byron Buxton whiffing at an 86 mph sweeper. He bounded off the mound and let out a yell on his way to the dugout.
“I had a lot of adrenaline going in because the bases were loaded, no outs. I’m trying to get three outs,” he said. “It’s definitely a good feeling punching out the side, especially with the bases loaded. I definitely showed a little emotion there. I kept it down a little bit because we were still losing and going on an 11-game losing streak at the time. I was just glad I could leave the score where it was and give the team a chance to try to win right there at the bottom of the ninth.”
But the Mets went down with a whimper in the bottom of the ninth for a 12th-straight loss, and Warren was optioned back to Triple-A after the game. Such is life for a middle reliever with options in his contract.
“It’s definitely not fun,” he admitted. “The travel can be pretty tough, and I have a wife and a three-and-a-half, four-month old. So that’s kind of tough for her. But I have an option, so there’s so much I can do. I’m blessed to be able to play this game, and it is what it is at that point.”
A call-up was waiting for Warren on Saturday night, though. With the Mets’ middle game against the Colorado Rockies getting postponed to create a doubleheader on Sunday, he was chosen as the 27th man.
The hope is that a more permanent roster spot awaits him a little further down the road.
“I truly think they know what I have,” Warren said. “I just have an option under my belt, and I’m the guy who has to go up and down. That’s just part of it. I think they know I have what it takes to be here. When the time comes, hopefully, I can stick it up here.”
For more on Austin Warren and the Mets, visit AMNY.com
