NEW YORK — Friday night at Citi Field began with The Temptations performing their 1965 hit “My Girl” with Francisco Lindor’s walk-on song. Lindor, while warming up on the field, smiled and sang along to the lyrics. Pete Alonso, stretching before his final home game as a Met, joined in, too, and soon the crowd — understandably tense before the elimination game — relaxed a bit. Watching what happened in Queens, it was hard to say that the Mets had lost by eight runs two days ago and were facing elimination.
If they seemed relaxed and carefree minutes before southpaw David Peterson threw the first pitch of the game, that’s because they did at Citi Field before Game 5 of the National League Championship Series. Mets manager Carlos Mendoza walked into the batter’s meeting and everyone was smiling. Hours before their most important game of the year — yes, one of those — New York’s happy-go-lucky attitude foreshadowed the pain they were about to inflict on the Dodgers.
“So who are we,” said Mendoza. “There is no future for us. But we have been in this situation before. So, there is nothing new.”
After Peterson struck out Mookie Betts and Shohei Ohtani at second in the first inning — lifting the crowd’s energy from dismay to hope — Alonso followed with a three-run blast off Jack Flaherty in the bottom of the frame. The fourth Polar Bear Race in October was an indication of the offensive explosion to come. The Mets had 14 hits, the second most in franchise postseason history, in their 12-6 win over the Dodgers in Game 5.
The offense was a product of sticking to the plan, exploiting Flaherty’s slowness and refusing to rush outside the zone. The Mets ended up tagging Flaherty with eight runs in just three innings. Without Alonso’s long ball, they drew important walks, enjoyed timely hitting, and played small ball to confuse the Los Angeles staff. Starling Marte went 4-for-5 with three RBIs, Lindor collected an RBI triple, Jesse Winker reached base in his five plate appearances and catcher Francisco Alvarez also went 3-for-4.
Despite all the scoring, the Mets were hitless once – something not seen in the postseason since the 2002 World Series by the Angels.
Friday was the kind of complete effort the Mets needed to remind themselves of their ceiling.
“The level of at-bats we had, the intensity we needed every inning, we understood that,” said Lindor. “And we had to give everything we had, and that’s what we did.”
As the Dodgers threaten to end this improbable run, the Mets rely on experience and results to this point. Their rookie first baseman, throughout these few winning weeks, has been right in the thick of it. Of the five players Alonso has coached in the postseason, four have given the Mets a lead — including three in just the past two weeks. Not bad for one of baseball’s most powerful hitters with a few weeks left to enter free agency.
As Betts said Wednesday, the Mets weren’t one of the last four teams standing because of luck. They also didn’t get to this point because of a McDonald’s mascot or a Latin pop hit. On Friday, the Mets reminded everyone why they’re just two wins away from advancing to the World Series: When they’re at their best, they can beat anyone.
“We will be ready. We like the chances,” said Alonso. “This is what we want to continue to play. Today was perfect, think, get to Game 6. And we have that opportunity, and it will be the same idea: get, get to 7. Survive the day. And we are very excited about this upcoming opportunity.
In a season full of surprises, the Mets have a chance to pull off their biggest upset yet. They forced a flight back to Los Angeles for Game 6, which will take place Sunday night at Chavez Ravine, by focusing only on the 27 outings that could save their season rather than being overwhelmed by the big picture. All baseball teams like to say they don’t look too far ahead, and instead prefer to take things one day at a time, but Mendoza’s Mets have used that mindset better than most this season.
The Mets are trying to become the ninth team in LCS (AL or NL) history to come back from a 3-1 deficit. For motivation, they will be reminding themselves that they lost 2-0 in the playoffs this year.
“We’ve had success focusing on this program for 4-5 months now, and it’s not time to change it,” Brandon Nimmo said. “We’re just trying to hit that dam until it finally breaks, and it broke tonight.”
On The Temptations’ official website, the Motown legends describe their story as “an epic journey of courage, struggle, triumph, obstacles, and ultimately, international stardom.”
Sounds a lot like the 2024 Mets.
Deesha Thosar is an MLB reporter for FOX Sports. He 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 him on Twitter at @DeeshaThosar.
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