NEW YORK — Edwin Díaz couldn’t stop pacing. But he wasn’t nervous.
Elite closers such as Díaz don’t get nervous. They can’t. One doesn’t earn a $100 million contract by sweating bullets in big moments. Instead, Díaz and his ilk must redirect the intensity — a blaring trumpet, 44,000 screaming fans, a one-run game in the ninth — into purposeful adrenaline, fuel for a fire.
But with his Mets, the hottest team in the National League, clinging to a 2-1 lead in the bottom of the eighth on Sunday, Díaz didn’t want to let himself cool down.