If the Mets are going to win the World Series this year -- and they are still the hardest seven victories in this world away from doing that -- they might very well need Edwin Díaz to get the last three outs the way he did on Monday afternoon against the Dodgers in the bottom of the ninth. The experience won¡¯t be stress-free for Diaz or the Mets or their fans. But that is part of the deal with him, whether he¡¯s dealing the way he was at the end against the Dodgers or not.

D¨ªaz reminds you of a wonderful line about an All-Star closer of Earl Weaver¡¯s with the Orioles back in the late '70s, Don Stanhouse.

¡°He doesn¡¯t suffer from stress,¡± Earl said of Stanhouse. ¡°He¡¯s a carrier.¡±

Even in what turned out to be a 7-3 Game 2 win for the Mets -- if you watched the game, you know the final score doesn¡¯t tell the whole story of this one -- D¨ªaz was both dazzling and maddening at the same time. He came on with two outs in the eighth, when it was still 6-3 for the Mets and got Kik¨¦ Hern¨¢ndez to fly out to right field with Max Muncy on third and Tommy Edman on second.

Then after the Mets had scored an insurance run in the top of the ninth, D¨ªaz promptly gave up a leadoff single to Andy Pages and then walked Shohei Ohtani. So this was another game for the Mets' closer, especially this October, when things once again weren¡¯t going to be easy -- despite all the stuff he has, and despite all the arm.

Until D¨ªaz did make it look easy at Dodger Stadium.

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He struck out Mookie Betts. He struck out Teoscar Hern¨¢ndez and then did the same to Freddie Freeman -- two MVPs and the Home Run Derby king of the past All-Star Game. Just like that, the series was even and Mets fans could exhale after D¨ªaz made them hold their breath again. Mets fans know as well as anybody that their team has no chance to win it all for the first time in nearly 40 years without the trumpet guy, D¨ªaz, trying to strike out the world.

D¨ªaz wasn¡¯t the only Mets reliever to do the job in Game 2. Phil Maton got what turned out to be the biggest outs of the game, inducing Kik¨¦ Hern¨¢ndez to ground into a double play in the bottom of the sixth, with the bases loaded, after the Dodgers had come back from 6-0 down early to make it 6-3.

But in a four-run game that did feel closer because of what D¨ªaz was facing in the bottom of the ninth against the top of the Dodgers' batting order -- Shohei, Mookie, Teoscar, Freddie -- another big game was in D¨ªaz¡¯s right hand. Everybody remembers that even on the day when the Mets officially made it into the playoffs against the Braves, we got the full D¨ªaz experience after the Mets had come back from 3-0 down to take a 6-3 lead in the eighth. Of course, D¨ªaz gave it right back as the Braves came roaring back to take a 7-6 lead, before Francisco Lindor did his Lindor thing and put the Mets back ahead with a two-run homer in the top of the ninth.

That was the day when D¨ªaz pleaded with his manager, Carlos Mendoza, to let him go back out for the bottom of the ninth.

¡°I got this,¡± he said, in a slightly more colorful way than that.

So he did, and the Mets were on their way to Milwaukee. D¨ªaz is this Mets team in so many ways. He gets punched in the mouth, and he comes back. There was the time at the end of August when he gave up a go-ahead grand slam to Corbin Carroll in the eighth and the Mets lost to the D-backs. The next day, Mendoza sent him right back out and D¨ªaz slammed the door in a 3-2 Mets victory, striking out two.

Even last week at Citi Field -- after Lindor had hit his grand slam in Game 4 against the Phillies and with the Mets sitting on a 4-1 lead and the NLCS right in front of them -- D¨ªaz promptly walked J.T. Realmuto and Bryson Stott to start the Phillies' ninth. But before long, he was blowing away Kyle Schwarber, and the Mets were on their way to this series against the Dodgers. On Monday, he blew away Betts, Hernandez and Freeman, in formation.

You¡¯re hardly blinded by the light of his postseason numbers: 1-0 record, two saves and a 5.79 ERA. But he has 10 strikeouts in 4 2/3 innings pitched. But that ninth inning against the Braves felt like a postseason game, and he got the last three outs then. He did the same against the Phillies last week when the Mets won that NLDS. He did it again on Monday in L.A.: sliders to Kik¨¦ Hern¨¢ndez in the eighth and fastballs in the ninth.

¡°I got to trust my stuff,¡± D¨ªaz said when Game 2 was over.

Mark Vientos hit another grand slam for the Mets on this day. The Mets still needed D¨ªaz to slam the door, the last four outs in what turned out to be a four-run game. They¡¯ll trade some stress for those outs any time -- at this time of the year most of all.