Acuña Jr.'s key defense lays the foundation for the Warriors' goodbye Ann wins the brother-in-law duel

Ronald Acuña Jr. jumped up and took the kill by the outfield wall, then double-killed. Marcell Ozuna hit a tie-hit second base after two outs in the eighth inning. The 5-4 comeback win could be a turning point for the Warriors to shake off their season-long slump.

"Of course every win counts, but this one is special," said Spencer Schwellenbach, the Warriors' starting pitcher.

Austin Riley ended the game with a high-flying sacrifice in the tenth inning. But the real highlight of the Warriors' 5-4 win over the Mets at Truster Park today was when Acuña Jr. caught Juan Soto too far from first base after catching a double-kill guard.

"It's such a critical defense," commented Warriors head coach Brian Snitker, "and to play this kind of team, you have to have a big game of defense — and we've seen it many times, and this kid can do it." "

With two players out at the top half of the ninth inning, the Warriors looked like they were about to swallow their 17th loss in nearly 24 games. But thanks to Osuna's key hits, Acuña Jr.'s defense and Reilly's goodbye high-flying sacrifice, they ended their last 11 one-point deficits.

While beating the top-of-the-table Mets is a big boost, the Warriors are currently seven games off winning percentage (less than 50 percent) and the National League East is 12 games behind, so it's too early to talk about a division title. The top priority is to overtake the first five teams and compete for the last wild card in the League of Nations.

"Every win counts," Acuña Jr. said through a translator.

The victory was made even more special by the brotherhood, where Acuña Jr. and his brother Luisangel Acuña, who plays for the Metropolitans, played together for the first time in the major leagues.

Brothers don't shake hands ... A must hug!

Osuna's three-pointer from a two-man run in the eighth inning sparked hope, and Acuña Jr. jumped up in the top half of the ninth inning to catch Pete Alonso's potential long-play fly ball (the ball nearly hit the green parapet pad). Soto hesitated as he returned to first base, then turned to see if Edwin Jimenez was ruled out on first base. This momentary hesitation allowed Acuña Jr. to pass the ball to complete the double.

"It's just anticipating the situation and executing it," said Acuña Jr., "and I'm lucky it turned out the way I wanted." "

Soto was aggressively running to second base and clearly felt that the ball was not being received. Jimenez made an exit gesture as soon as Acuña Jr. landed on the ground to show his possession.

"We'll have to wait for the referee," Soto explained, "and we've had a similar situation this year. The principle was to see the referee make sure the decision was correct, but this time he was too slow and I was in trouble. "

Schwelenbach lost four points in seven innings — two more than he conceded in 21 innings against the Mets last year. Knocked out by Soto and Tyrone Taylor each. The other two points came as Taylor's fly ball bounced out of the little Acuña glove – when he was trying to make a flying catch.

After Nick Allen was on base in eight innings, Acuña Jr. and Alex Verdugo hit back-to-back hits. After Matt Olson was knocked out with strikeouts and Reilly's flyer, Osuna hit a chase at full base. The Warriors had an offensive index of just 0.592 at full base this season.

Both Osuna and Reilly were able to deliver key strikes at full base, making the win a hopeful turning point for the team to emerge from a difficult season.

"This series is important," Snitke said, "and every game is critical right now. We created it ourselves, so this win is a good start. "