Mets beat Dodgers in extras as Francisco Lindor, Francisco Alvarez provide pop after Edwin Diaz's stumble in ninth

LOS ANGELES – It was a series of showdowns, one more high stakes than the next.

It was Paul Blackburn versus Shohei Ohtani with the tying runs on base, or Huascar Brazoban against Tommy Edman with the bases loaded. It was Edwin Diaz against Ohtani, and even Dodgers manager Dave Roberts against Carlos Mendoza in extra innings, as the two played chess with a last-minute pinch hitter and a bullpen substitution.

It was, at its core, Dodgers versus Mets – a rivalry that’s getting juicier by the moment. On Monday night, it was the Mets who outlasted their foes, winning 4-3, in 10 innings at Dodger Stadium in the first of a four-game set. They’ve now played the team that ousted them from last year’s NLCS four times in a little over a week and won the last three, holding the best offense in baseball to just six runs in the wins.

Monday’s dramatics underscored how evenly matched these two can be.

After a ninth-inning Dodgers rally erased the Mets' 2-1 lead, Francisco Alvarez hit a long double off Tanner Scott to drive in the go-ahead run in the 10th, and Francisco Lindor kicked in a needed insurance run with an RBI single.

“Tonight was a great team win,” said Lindor, who also hit a leadoff home run, his sixth this season and his eighth as a Met. Alvarez, who’s scuffled this year and came into the day hitting .222, has been “working extremely hard,” Lindor added. “He’s been grinding. He’s been going through it…The way he went about today was tremendous. His at-bats were quality at-bats.”

If there was one sore point, it’s that Mark Vientos injured his hamstring while trying to run out a grounder in the 10th. While Mendoza said “it didn’t look good,” he’ll need to undergo tests to discover the severity of the injury.

Lefty Jose Castillo kicked off the bottom of the 10th by walking Freddie Freeman. Andy Pages’ single drove in Teoscar Hernandez from second to draw the Dodgers to within 4-3. Max Muncy struck out swinging and, at the last minute, Roberts lifted Michael Conforto for righty Will Smith. Mendoza then summoned Jose Butto from the bullpen.

Butto got Smith to fly out to center, moving Freeman to third base and bringing up Edman. On his bobblehead giveaway night, Edman, last year’s NLCS MVP, hit a comebacker to end the game.

“Once (I knew) they had the righties ready, that’s why (Butto) was getting loose,” Mendoza said. “After three (of the four) batters (being left-handed) for Castillo, I was going to have a righty ready for a potential pinch hit, which they did…I’m glad he came through.”

The Mets were up 2-1 heading into the ninth, before Edman hit a leadoff single off Diaz and stole second. Hyesong Kim hit a one-out infield single to shortstop to put runners at the corners for Ohtani, who had homered two innings prior. Ohtani hit a long sacrifice fly to right to tie the score at 2. Kim stole second, but Hernandez struck out swinging.

With the speedy Luisangel Acuna as the ghost runner in the 10th, Alvarez smacked a 1-and-1 fastball 358 feet to right to plate the go-ahead run. Lindor singled home pinch-runnner Starling Marte in to put the Mets up, 4-2.

With runners on the corners and two outs, though, Vientos hit a grounder and immediately clutched his hamstring before limping off the field.

Alvarez was 2-for-4, and Lindor was 2-for-5 with a homer and two RBIs. In his first major-league game in 283 games, Blackburn, returning from a litany of injuries, was brilliant. He allowed no runs, three hits and a walk with three strikeouts over five innings. He'll likely be sent to the bullpen as the Mets return to a five-man rotation, Mendoza said.

The Mets took a 1-0 lead on Lindor’s leadoff homer in the first off Dustin May. Brandon Nimmo added an RBI double in the fifth. Ohtani hit a majestic 424-foot solo homer off Max Kranick in the seventh to draw the Dodgers to within 2-1.

This is the 27th straight time the Mets have won when Lindor has gone yard, two short of Carl Furillo’s major-league record, set between 1951-53.

“I’m just trying to get a good pitch and get on base for the guys,” Lindor said. “If they go out, great, if they don’t, as long as I’m on base and get something going for the guys and let the big boys do their thing. I just take a lot of pride in setting the tone.”

With the Mets nursing a 2-0 lead, Edman reached on an error by Pete Alonso with one out in the fifth. One out later, Kim singled to bring up Ohtani, who had already struck out twice. But after falling behind 3-and-1, Blackburn threw a changeup just outside of the strike zone that Ohtani poked harmlessly to second for an inning-ending groundout.

Blackburn was done after that. He didn’t throw a single four-seam fastball, his second-most used pitch last year, relying on his cutter and turning to his changeup as his main secondary pitch. Brazoban also stranded the bases loaded in the sixth, striking out Edman swinging.

Down 2-0, Ohtani eviscerated Max Kranick’s first-pitch hanging curveball for his 23rd home run of the year, a solo shot, with two outs in the seventh.

“That’s a pretty good lineup, pretty good team,” Mendoza said. “It’s kind of like how we feel with our offense. A guy gets on and before you know it, the tying run is at home plate and you feel good about your chances. They’ve got to be feeling the same way. That’s why you’ve got to play all 27 (outs)."

Or, when two teams are as evenly matched as these, 33.

Notes & quotes: Jose Siri (broken tibia) traveled with the team and will continue to ramp up baseball activities but isn’t close to a return … Sean Manaea (oblique) threw 29 pitches in his last live batting practice; he’ll either have one more live BP or commence a rehab assignment, Mendoza said … Brooks Raley (Tommy John) has thrown three live BPs and is nearing a rehab assignment.

By Laura Albanese

laura.albanese@newsday.com@AlbaneseLaura

Laura Albanese is a reporter, feature writer and columnist covering local professional sports teams; she began at Newsday in 2007 as an intern.