Mets beat Dodgers in Game 5, send NLCS back to Los Angeles
Pete Alonso #20 of the Mets celebrates his first inning three run home run against the Los Angeles Dodgers in game five of the National League Championship Series with teammates Francisco Lindor #12 and Brandon Nimmo #9 at Citi Field on Friday, Oct. 18, 2024. Credit: Jim McIsaac
The Mets aren’t ready yet for all this to end, so instead they’ll go back to California.
Pete Alonso’s three-run home run in the first inning Friday night kickstarted a 12-6 win over the Dodgers in Game 5, extending the NL Championship Series and thus the Mets’ season.
They did this time what they failed to do over most of the prior week: score plenty and pitch well enough. Relievers Ryne Stanek (2 1/3 innings, one run) and Edwin Diaz (two innings) handled basically the entire second half of the game, an extreme form of bullpen usage — which may take a toll over the coming days — brought on by the Mets’ desperation.
And so the Mets hung on and earned another transcontinental flight. The Dodgers still own a 3-2 lead in the best-of-seven series. Following an off day Saturday, the teams will play Game 6 on Sunday at Dodger Stadium. If the Mets win that, too, Game 7 would be Monday.
The offensive highlights were many. Starling Marte went 4-for-5 with three RBIs. Alonso, Francisco Lindor and Jesse Winker had two hits apiece. Jeff McNeil, making his first NLCS start, added two sacrifice flies.
Even with a large lead, Carlos Mendoza managed like it was tight — since the season was on the line, after all.
The Mets were up by eight heading into the fifth inning. After Reed Garrett allowed a three-run home run to Andy Pages — the rookie outfielder's second long ball of the night — Mendoza turned to the two relievers he trusts most.
Stanek finished the fifth by striking out Shohei Ohtani, then got the Mets through the sixth, then somehow did the same in the seventh.
The Mets led by five when Diaz entered in the eighth and by six when he returned for the ninth. He allowed one baserunner.
It was all Mets in the early innings, as they rocked Dodgers righthander Jack Flaherty for eight runs across three frames. Alonso’s blast provided an immediate cushion. They exploded for five more in the third, with Marte contributing a two-run double before a trio of two-out, run-scoring hits: Francisco Alvarez single, Lindor triple, Brandon Nimmo single.
Mets lefthander David Peterson, meanwhile, navigated 3 2/3 innings and gave up two runs — one on a wild pitch, one on Pages’ first homer. He walked four and struck out three.
Peterson’s first postseason start — following four relief appearances — came in place of righthander Kodai Senga, whom the Mets passed over following his Game 1 mess. Senga ostensibly was available out of the bullpen but did not appear. It’s not clear under what circumstances the Mets would be comfortable using him the rest of this series.
Although he had been used out of the bullpen lately, Peterson tossed 79 pitches, about his available maximum. He was in and out of trouble his whole outing. When the Dodgers had runners on second and third with no outs in the first, he escaped. Los Angeles stranded another pair in the third.
When Peterson issued two more walks to help the Dodgers load the bases in the fourth, Mendoza called on Reed Garrett. He struck out Freddie Freeman — looking at a sweeping slider that just nipped the outside edge of the strike zone — for the first of 16 outs the Mets needed from relievers.
Mendoza swapped out one third of the lineup for Game 5, a line change highlighted by McNeil plugging in at second in place of Jose Iglesias. The Mets also used Winker at DH instead of J.D. Martinez and put Tyrone Taylor back in centerfield after doing with Harrison Bader for a day.
The McNeil call was the most interesting, because it was his first start since breaking his right wrist six weeks ago. He had hustled through the rehab process in time to make the Mets’ NLCS roster, only to be limited to pinch-hit duty through the first four games.
With Iglesias hitting .227 with a .488 OPS in 11 postseason games, though, Mendoza opted to bench him.
“I just feel like Iglesias, he’s always going to chase, but when you see a guy swinging and missing at fastballs in the zone — it’s hard to explain,” Mendoza said before the game. “I just felt like putting McNeil in there for today and giving him a blow, even though we don’t have tomorrow [necessarily], was the right way to go today.”
Tim Healey is the Mets beat writer for Newsday. Born on Long Island and raised in Connecticut, Tim has previously worked for the South Florida Sun Sentinel, the Boston Globe and MLB.com. He is also the author of “Hometown Hardball,” a book about minor league baseball in the northeast.
