Can Mets save the season? This streaky young slugger will be key

PHOENIX — On a team littered with superstars, fat bank accounts and glossy resumes, there is first baseman Mark Vientos. The New York Mets , with a payroll of $352 million, are led by Juan Soto’s MLB-high $61. 9 million salary this year.

They have seven All-Stars. And, here they are, heavily relying on their 20 th -highest-paid player, earning only $33,750 more than the MLB minimum, to help lead them through these troubled times. Vientos, the cleanup hitter out of necessity, almost singlehandedly won the game for the Mets on Friday night, a 3-1, 10-inning victory over the Arizona Diamondbacks at Chase Field.

It was Vientos’ leadoff homer in the second inning homer that not only produced the Mets’ lone run through the first nine innings – but half of their two hits. And it was Vientos who hit the go-ahead, run-scoring double in the 10 th inning for the game-winner, giving the Mets their fifth victory in seven games on this three-city, West Coast road trip. “The cleanup spot, I love it," Vientos said.

“It feels pretty good. I feel like I’ve been doing it for a while now. ’’ The Mets, of course, still are in a world of hurt, thanks to a brutal 3-17 stretch that has them with a 15-23 record.