NEW YORK — Friday evening at Citi Field began with The Temptations singing their 1965 hit single “My Girl” in an ode to Francisco Lindor’s walk-up song. Lindor, while warming up on the field, smiled and sang along to the lyrics. Pete Alonso, stretching before what could be his final home game as a Met, joined in, too, and pretty soon the crowd — understandably tense before an elimination game — relaxed a little. Watching the jovial scene unfold in Queens, it was hard to tell that the Mets were backed into a corner.
If they seemed loose and carefree mere minutes before southpaw David Peterson threw the first pitch of the game, it was because that’s how they showed up to Citi Field ahead of Game 5 of the National League Championship Series. Mets manager Carlos Mendoza walked into the hitters’ meeting and everyone was smiling. Hours before their most important game of the year — yes, another one of those — New York’s happy-go-lucky attitude foreshadowed the pain they would inflict on the Dodgers.
“That’s who we are,” Mendoza said. “There’s no tomorrow for us. But we’ve been in this situation before. So, nothing new.”
After Peterson stranded Mookie Betts and Shohei Ohtani on second and third base in the first inning — lifting the crowd’s energy from unease to optimism — Alonso followed by lifting a three-run blast off Jack Flaherty in the bottom of the frame. The Polar Bear’s fourth home run of October was a harbinger of the offensive outburst that was to come. The Mets tallied 14 hits, the second-most in postseason franchise history, in their 12-6 win over the Dodgers in Game 5.
The onslaught was a product of sticking to the plan, capitalizing on Flaherty’s drop in velocity and refusing to chase outside the zone. The Mets wound up tagging Flaherty for eight runs in just three innings. Besides Alonso’s long ball, they drew key walks, enjoyed timely hitting, and played small ball to overwhelm Los Angeles’ pitching staff. Starling Marte went 4-for-5 with three RBIs, Lindor collected a stand-up RBI triple, Jesse Winker reached base in four of his five plate appearances and catcher Francisco Alvarez went 3-for-4, too. On top of all the runs produced, the Mets didn’t strike out once.
It was the kind of complete effort the Mets needed to remind themselves of their ceiling.
“The quality of at-bats that we had, the intensity that we needed every inning, we understood that,” Lindor said. “And we had to give everything that we had, and that’s what we did.”
As the Dodgers threatened to put an end to this improbable run, the Mets leaned on the experience and the results that got them to this point. Their slugging first baseman, throughout these past few victorious weeks, has been right in the middle of it. Of Alonso’s five career postseason homers, four have given the Mets the lead — including three in the past two weeks alone. Not bad for one of baseball’s most powerful hitters just weeks away from entering free agency.
Like Mookie Betts said on Wednesday, the Mets didn’t become one of the final four teams standing because of luck. They also didn’t reach this point because of a McDonald’s mascot or a hit Latin pop song. On Friday, the Mets reminded everyone why they’re only two wins away from advancing to the World Series: When they’re at their best, they can beat anyone.
“We’ll be ready. We love opportunities,” Alonso said. “This is what we want to continue to play for. Today was all about, figure it out, get to Game 6. And we have that opportunity, and it’s going to be the same mentality: figure it out, get to 7. That’s what it is. Survive the day. And we did. And we’re really, really excited for the opportunity coming up.”
In a season overloaded with surprises, the Mets have the opportunity to pull off their greatest upset yet. They forced a flight back to Los Angeles for Game 6, which will take place on Sunday night at Chavez Ravine, by focusing only on the 27 outs that could save their season rather than getting overwhelmed by the big picture. All baseball teams like to say they don’t look too far ahead, and instead prefer to take things day-to-day, but Mendoza’s Mets have executed that mindset better than most this season.
The Mets are attempting to become the ninth team in LCS history (AL or NL) to come back from a 3-1 hole. For motivation, they’ll be reminding themselves that they’re 2-0 in elimination games this year.
“We’ve had success focusing on the process for 4-5 months now, and it’s not the time to change it,” Brandon Nimmo said. “We’re just trying to beat on that dam until it finally breaks, and it broke tonight.”
On The Temptations’ official website, the Motown legends bill their story as “an epic journey of courage, struggle, triumphs, setbacks, and ultimately, international superstardom.”
Sounds a lot like the 2024 Mets.
Deesha Thosar is an MLB reporter for FOX Sports. She previously covered the Mets as a beat reporter for the New York Daily News. The daughter of Indian immigrants, Deesha grew up on Long Island and now lives in Queens. Follow her on Twitter at @DeeshaThosar.
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