In this postseason, the New York Mets have stared down the brink of elimination exactly twice. The first time, it was the bat of Pete Alonso that socked a three-run homer to give them a win in the NL Wild Card over the Milwaukee Brewers.
As fate would have it, it would be a three-run homer off the bat of Alonso again that sparked the New York Mets to a 12-6 victory over the Los Angeles Dodgers to stay alive in the National League Championship Series – which now swings back to the west coast. Elimination is still a possibility next game, but not tonight.
The Dodgers’ vaunted pitching staff let them down early in the game – with starter Jack Flaherty giving up eight runs in three innings. Not a single Dodgers pitcher managed to strike out any of the Mets’ batters. Not one.
Try as they might, the bats of superstars Mookie Betts and Shohei Ohtani stayed relatively consistent while Andy Pages had the game of his life – socking two home runs.
But the Mets bats were just too hot – finishing with 14 hits on 34 at-bats to force a Game 6 at Chavez Ravine.
Pete Alonso’s first inning home-run sparked the Mets to a 12-6 victory over the Dodgers
Reliever Ryne Stanek struck out four batters to earn the win for the Mets on Friday night
Flaherty was credited with the loss while Mets reliever Ryne Stanek got the win in a lengthy (by his standards) 2.1 inning outing where he struck out four batters and only gave up a single earned run.
The Dodgers had a chance to take a lead in the first inning, but a ‘brain cramp’ from Shohei Ohtani saw the Japanese star stay at third base instead of running home on a grounder.
Alonso made them pay with his first at-bat, golfing a pitch at his ankles to deep center field for a monster 432-foot blast to score shortstop Francisco Lindor and left fielder Brandon Nimmo for a 3-0 Mets lead.
Mets pitcher David Peterson gave the Dodgers some hope when a wild pitch scored second baseman Kike Hernandez from third to make it a 3-1 ballgame.
New York unleashed its demons in the third inning, shelling Flaherty for five runs on four hits.
After walking Alonso and designated hitter Jesse Winker, right fielder Starling Marte knocked a double through to left field that scored both his teammates.
Two at-bats later, down to their final out of the inning, catcher Francisco Alvarez brought Marte home with a single to left field as well. The next at-bat, Lindor scored Alvarez. Next up, Nimmo scored Lindor. 8-1 Mets.
The game wasn’t over for the Dodgers though. Pages, who had never had a multi-home run game in his career before tonight, took a solo shot to left center field in the top of the fourth inning.
Alonso (center) celebrates his first inning home run with teammates Francisco Lindor (L) and Brandon Nimmo (R) during Game 6 of the NLCS against the Los Angeles Dodgers
Home runs from Andy Pages (L) and Mookie Betts (R) gave the Dodgers some belief
But eleven straight Dodgers batters were sat down – including Shohei Ohtani on a strikeout
Mets fans will now watch the rest of the series from their couches as the Dodgers host Game 6
Unfortunately for the Dodgers, reliever Brent Honeywell couldn’t stop the hemorrhaging in the bottom of the fourth. After Alonso was hit by a pitch and reached first, Winker poked through a triple that took its time reaching Betts in right field – allowing the ‘Polar Bear’ Alonso to reach home.
That same inning second-baseman Jeff McNeil hit a sacrifice fly to center to score Winker from third base to make it a 10-2 ballgame in favor of the Mets.
Pages would strike again for the Dodgers – hitting a three-run blast that scored himself, Hernandez, and third baseman Max Muncy to cut the deficit to 10-5.
When the Dodgers had another turn to bat, Betts sent a solo shot over the left field wall to make it 10-6.
But the Dodgers’ bats went from red hot to being dunked in dry ice. After the Betts home run, the next eleven straight Los Angeles batters were sat down – including five strikeouts, three of which came from Stanek. That included Ohtani, who struck out in the eighth. Tommy Edman broke the duck by reaching on an infield single in the top of the ninth.
By that time, the Mets had added to their lead. McNeil hit a sacrifice fly to score Winker in the bottom of the sixth and Marte hit a single in the bottom of the eight that scored Alonso for his fourth run of the night.
Hernandez popped up on the first pitch he saw for the final out of the game, sending the Citi Field faithful home happy and hopeful.
Game 6 is Sunday in Los Angeles. Expected starters have not been revealed.
