Carlos Mendoza is willing to ride Edwin Diaz into the ground for a Mets pennant chase

The New York Mets pulled off a Game 1 stunner in their NLDS matchup against the Philadelphia Phillies. After seven scoreless innings, New York cranked out five runs in the eighth and stole a game on the road.

Game 2 was almost another Mets victory, but Philadelphia rallied in the late innings before Nick Castellanos smacked the walk-off single with two outs in the bottom of the ninth. That comeback started in the eighth inning, when Carlos Mendoza called upon his All-Star closer, Edwin Diaz.

Normally a paragon of composure under the bright lights, Diaz tossed a rare dud on Sunday afternoon. He only lasted two-thirds of an inning, coughing up two hits, a walk, and three earned runs. Not what you expect from a reliever who finished top-10 in Cy Young voting a couple years ago.

Diaz has been excellent down the stretch this season, but his usage has been quite robust lately. The Mets are fighting tooth-and-nail for a spot in the NLCS and it's clear Carlos Mendoza is willing to push the limits with his best reliever in pursuit of that goal. The 30-year-old closer has tallied 130 pitches over the last eight days, including 25 on Sunday.

So, that begs the question: how far can Mendoza push it before Diaz is too compromised?

For more news and rumors, check out MLB Insider Robert Murray’s work on The Baseball Insiders podcast, subscribe to The Moonshot, our weekly MLB newsletter, and join the discord to get the inside scoop between now and the MLB offseason.

Mets need to tread carefully with Edwin Diaz's usage as NLDS shifts to New York

Diaz walked Bryce Harper and gave up a single to Nick Castellanos in the eighth inning before Bryson Stott drove both home with a two-RBI triple. It was the hit of the game (aside from Casty's ninth-inning walkoff) and it led many to scratch their heads about Diaz's pitch sequence.

He leaned heavily on the slider and it didn't work. Mets pitching coach Jeremy Hefner sees room for improvement, but isn't too concerned.

"His slider is a little bit more arm-side right now than we would like it to be," Hefner told Will Sammon of The Athletic. "The velo is there. He’s still getting ahead of hitters at a pretty good clip. Not much different. We’ve just got to get the slider to the glove side more often."

As for Diaz, he remains "100 percent confident" despite the heavy workload and Sunday's struggles. That Phillies lineup is short on cupcakes, so New York will need as much of Diaz as humanly possible down the stretch of this series.

"I’ve been feeling fine,” Diaz said. “I’ve been able to work. This is a big moment for us. I gotta be ready, always."

The Mets took one in Philly, which was step one toward a monumental NL East upset. There isn't a hotter team in baseball right now and New York has proven itself more than capable of stringing together a couple wins at Citi Field. The Phillies are a tough out, always, but the Mets' offense is humming. If the Mets are going to take the upper hand and win this series, though, odds are it will need to involve a few solid innings from Diaz. He is not done in this series — or, perhaps more accurately, the Mets aren't done leaning on him.