Mets' Jefry Yan, known for high-flying strikeout celebration, performs it too soon in hilarious blunder
By the time the final out settled into a glove at Citi Field on Saturday, the New York Mets had a walk-off win over the Washington Nationals, a rookie reliever had his first Major League victory, and an acrobatic hat-tap celebration had already made the rounds on social media — twice, for two very different reasons.
The story really began in the top of the ninth inning, with the Mets trailing by a run and closer Jefry Yan on the mound. Yan, a 29-year-old rookie who opened the year in the minors, was facing Nationals shortstop Nasim Nuñez with an 0-2 count and two outs. Yan threw what he thought was a perfect fastball on the outside corner for strike three. The home plate umpire saw it as a ball.
Yan did not.
Already airborne as the pitch crossed the plate, the 6-foot reliever — whose spring-loaded leap and ground-tap routine had become a fan favorite — landed on the mound, looked toward the plate, and realized strike three had not been called. He responded by tapping the top of his cap, signaling for a challenge under MLB's Automated Ball-Strike system, the league's replay mechanism for ball-and-strike calls.
After review, the umpire's original call stood: ball, not strike. The count went to 1-2.
On the SNY broadcast, longtime Mets play-by-play voice Gary Cohen summed up the scene with a laugh: "Now, that was funny."
Two pitches later, Yan buried a slider in the dirt that Nuñez swung through for a real strikeout. This time, the celebration — leap, land, tap — was earned.
The Mets carried that momentum into the bottom of the ninth.
Brett Baty drew a leadoff walk, and Jorge Polanco followed with a single to put the winning run on base. Francisco Alvarez then drove a double into left field, scoring Baty to tie the game and sending the potential winning run to third. Francisco Lindor stepped in next and lined a single into the outfield, bringing the runner home and ending the game without needing extra innings.
Yan was credited with his first Major League win after 1 2/3 scoreless innings of relief, during which he struck out three batters. Through his first five appearances in a Mets uniform, he owns a 1.80 ERA — a small but notable sample size for a pitcher who spent the early part of the season developing his celebration in the minor leagues before bringing it to the big stage.
After the game, Yan reflected on his Citi Field debut through a translator.
"I felt really welcome today," he said.
There may be a lesson buried in the inning: wait for the umpire's call before launching into the leap. But if Yan needed a reminder, the walk-off win — and a stadium full of fans who got to see the celebration for real — suggested he had already figured that part out.