Devin Williams Gets the Win Because the Mets Couldn't Figure Out Who Should Even Be Pitching

Here's a sentence that should never have to exist in professional baseball: the New York Mets won a game Thursday night partly because nobody could get on the same page about which relief pitcher was supposed to take the mound.

Let that sink in. The Mets beat Minnesota 10-8 for their second straight win, and it came down to a straight-up miscommunication in the bullpen that nearly derailed the whole thing.

The Setup: Bichette's Double, Brazobán's Exit

So here's what went down. Bo Bichette rips a go-ahead three-run double in the ninth inning. Closer Devin Williams is supposed to come in. Except Huascar Brazobán, who pitched the eighth and gave up a two-out grand slam to Ryan Jeffers that tied the game at 7, is walking back out to the mound from the dugout at the exact same time Williams is heading in from the bullpen.

Why? Because nobody told Brazobán correctly that he was done.

Mets manager Carlos Mendoza had instructed Brazobán in the dugout that he'd only pitch the ninth if the score stayed tied. The Mets took the lead on Bichette's double. Game over for Brazobán. Williams in. Clear, right?

Apparently not.

The "Mistranslation" That Almost Broke Everything

"Mistranslation there," Mendoza said afterward. "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.'"

Mendoza made it clear he speaks Spanish and would need to follow up with Brazobán one-on-one to make sure the message actually stuck this time around. Williams took the mound as intended and picked up the win.

Brazobán, for his part, couldn't help but laugh about the chaos. When asked what he thought watching Williams jog in with the lights literally dimming at Citi Field, he answered in Spanish before switching to English: "The lights are going off, and I was like 'Wow,'" he said through interpreter Alan Suriel. "So that's when I realized."

A Messy Win, But a Win Nonetheless

The Twins had clawed back from two separate five-run deficits to force that ninth-inning drama. But the Mets held on, and Williams got the decision.

Already struggling to win ballgames, the last thing New York needed was to lose one because the bullpen couldn't figure out who was supposed to be pitching. They didn't. This one got away from them in the weirdest way possible, and somehow they still found a way to take two straight.

This article was created with AI assistance and reviewed by Seattle On Tap editorial staff. Always verify information with official team sources.