Going back to Cali: After saving their season, Mets return to L.A. with new life in NLCS
NEW YORK — As the Mets headed into a potential elimination Game 5 in the National League Championship Series, Ryne Stanek summed up the team's mindset in simple terms.
"You just go. Wherever your job stops, that's where it stops. And you just go," Stanek said. "I don't think there's any room for hesitation. I don't think there's any room for doubt."
For the Mets in 2024, the mission has been strongest when they need to rally and the confidence comes pouring to the surface when there's nowhere to go but up.
After two disjointed performances in their first two NLCS games at Citi Field, the Mets had to either rise to the occasion or watch their season come to an end.
They chose the former.
After being limited to two runs in Games 3 and 4, the Mets broke out in a major way against the Dodgers to force a Game 6 on Sunday. They erupted for 14 hits in Game 5 without striking out as a team as the pitching staff emptied the tank in a 12-6 win on Friday night in front of a sold-out crowd of 43,841 at Citi Field.
"By being here for a while, you just learn to not panic," Brandon Nimmo said. "If you're new here then you can definitely start to panic and start to try and change things, but we've had success focusing on the process for four or five months now, and it's not the time to change it."
The Mets are now heading to Los Angeles with new life after a rejuvenating effort, despite the Dodgers carrying a 3-2 series lead.
The tall task in front of the Mets now seems a little bit more manageable. They will have their ace, Sean Manaea, lined up for Game 6 on Sunday at 8:08 p.m. at Dodger Stadium. The Dodgers will have to go with a bullpen game, like they did in Game 2 when the Mets emerged with a 7-3 win.
Pete Alonso, Mets get offense into gear in Game 5
In the previous two games against the Dodgers, the Mets felt like the only thing lacking in their offense was the big hit.
From the opening inning in Game 5, the Mets cashed in on the pressure that they applied to the Dodgers' pitching staff.
In the first, after Francisco Lindor knocked a leadoff single and Nimmo walked, Pete Alonso blasted a three-run home run to center field on a low slider from Jack Flaherty.
"I got caught a little out front, but location-wise it was low," said Alonso, whose blast was his fourth of the playoffs. "It was still over the plate, and I'm really happy I could come through for the fellas. I'm just so happy because this group is just so special and I'm just happy that we get to live to fight another day and play another game of baseball together."
The Mets broke away from the Dodgers in the third inning when they cashed in for five runs on four hits and two walks against Flaherty.
Starling Marte dealt the big blow with a two-run double down the left-field line, while Francisco Alvarez, Lindor and Nimmo all drove in a run with two outs to move the Mets out front, 8-1. Marte finished 4-for-5 with three doubles and three RBI, while Alvarez was 3-for-4 with a double, run and an RBI.
The Mets got some key insurance against Brent Honeywell in the fourth and sixth innings. Jesse Winker ripped an RBI triple into right field and Jeff McNeil added sacrifice flies in both frames to neutralize two home runs from Andy Pages and a solo home run by Mookie Betts.
"Being able to jump out to a lead is an important, but honestly, I thought the most impressive part was every time that they scored, we had an answer for it," Alonso said.
Ryne Stanek, Edwin Diaz dig deep to nail down victory
In a win-or-go-home game in the playoffs, Phil Maton said the math equations begin in the first inning for the bullpen.
How many outs are left? How many more pitches can each guy throw?
It was a crunch for the Mets on Friday after Maton, Danny Young and Jose Butto all threw at least 29 pitches one night earlier. Stanek and Edwin Diaz knew to expect to go at least two innings in Game 5.
Stanek did one better, recording a career-high seven outs to hand the ball to Diaz with the Mets leading, 11-6.
The power-throwing righty struck out four, including Shohei Ohtani, Teoscar Hernandez and Freddie Freeman, in a big spot across 2⅓ innings between the fifth and seventh innings.
"I think my philosophy and my approach to the game is to kind of let it all hang and go as hard as I can for as long as I can," Stanek said. "
Whenever I'm told to be done, I'm done."
Diaz came on in the eighth inning and looked as sharp as he has all postseason. In a perfect eighth, he struck out Pages on a slider and Ohtani on a fastball. Then, his approach changed to manage his pitch count and try to get quick outs in the ninth. He picked up three fly balls and worked around an infield single by Tommy Edman to lock down the Mets win with 23 pitches across two innings.
"I gotta stay ready because this is win-or-go-home," Diaz said. "I was treating this game like a 1-0 game, tie game, I was trying to do my best to secure the W."
There were other gritty contributions from David Peterson and Reed Garrett, as well. Peterson worked around two singles to lead off the first inning and finished with two earned runs allowed in 3⅔ innings. Garrett inherited a bases-loaded jam in the fourth inning and froze Freeman on a backdoor sweeper for the final out.
And now the Mets live for another day, and another date with the Dodgers on Sunday.