Mets' magic has worn off as they again lose big to Dodgers
Los Angeles Dodgers’ Shohei Ohtani celebrates with Mookie Betts after they both score on the homer by Betts as Mets catcher Francisco Alvarez looks on during the sixth inning in Game 4 of the NLCS at Citi Field on Thursday, Oct. 17, 2024. Credit: Kathleen Malone-Van Dyke
The Mets at least found the scoreboard early in Thursday night’s NLCS Game 4 when Mark Vientos traded first-inning homers with Shohei Ohtani.
Ohtani led off with a 118-mph missile that reached the back of the Mets’ rightfield bullpen. Estimated distance: 422 feet.
Next was Vientos, who dumped his 397-foot shot into the Dodgers’ neighboring pen, a loud response that fired up the sellout crowd of 43,882 at a chilly Citi Field.
That was what we’d come to expect from the Mets this October, as manager Carlos Mendoza constantly talked about his team’s ability to take a punch — and come right back swinging. They did it successfully against Atlanta to clinch a playoff berth, rallied to stun the Brewers in the wild-card round, then swiped the Division Series with an upset of the Phillies.
In the NLCS, however, it’s become increasingly difficult for these staggering Mets to climb up off the mat. After Vientos’ stirring homer, they did virtually nothing against Yoshinobu Yamamato — the Japanese ace who spurned Steve Cohen’s $325 million offer last winter — and the Dodgers’ lockdown relief corps in a 10-2 loss that now has them facing elimination in Friday’s Game 5.
As feared, the disciplined Dodgers didn’t chase Jose Quintana’s efforts to get them out of the strike zone, and they stung him for five runs in 3 1/3 innings. But the recurring theme of this NLCS — and ultimately the Mets’ undoing — was their inability to solve L.A.’s pitching staff, which already had shut them out in Games 1 and 3 (by the combined score of 17-0).
Coming off Wednesday's 8-0 loss, Mendoza was pressed to find offense somewhere, but he didn’t make any major changes against Yamamoto, whose reverse splits prompted the manager to mostly stick with his righty bats. But that strategy failed to reverse his lineup’s recent malaise, as the Mets scraped together eight hits but still went 0-for-10 with runners in scoring position, dropping them to .138 (4-for-29) for the series.
You could say Mendoza’s decision to stick with Francisco Alvarez, his struggling catcher, actually worked to some degree as he reached base twice on a single and HBP before being removed for pinch hitter Jesse Winker in the sixth inning. Winker began the game on the bench — Mendoza went with the misfiring J.D. Martinez at DH — and briefly got the crowd to its feet with the bases loaded when he lifted a high fly ball that died at the warning track for the third out.
After so many inspired comebacks, topped off by dramatic finishes, the Mets just don’t have any answers for the Dodgers. The Mets already were in crisis mode after Game 3. Now it’s approaching panic time.
While Alvarez was under the magnifying glass before Game 4 due to his offensive struggles (5-for-35, zero extra-base hits, 13 Ks this postseason), he had plenty of company. Alvarez wasn’t the only one to blame for the Mets’ futility against a suddenly impenetrable L.A. pitching staff. Just the most convenient culprit, after a subpar regular season and his playoff struggles.
Other than Francisco Lindor going deep to lead off Game 2, and Vientos’ two homers, the Mets had done precious little in this NLCS, batting .189 (18-for-95) with four extra-base hits heading into Thursday. Mendoza’s lineup shuffling didn’t do much either, as Martinez and Harrison Bader — the righty inserts for Yamamoto — both went hitless.
When Mendoza was asked about the Bader decision, the manager didn’t get very deep with his explanation, tying it to Bader’s three at-bats against Yamamoto on April 19 at Dodger Stadium. There are small sample sizes, and then there are microscopic bites, and the Bader-Yamamoto matchup falls into the latter category (though he did go 3-for-3 with a double that day).
Also, you never know with Bader. Two years ago, for the Yankees, Bader seemed to channel Reggie Jackson in smacking five homers in 30 at-bats, split between the first two playoff rounds. The Mets were hoping the Bader dice roll might pay off. It didn’t.
As for the other options, Mendoza has been reluctant to swap out Jose Iglesias for Jeff McNeil — don’t dismiss the OMG vibe here — and we don’t buy backup Luis Torrens as a viable replacement for Alvarez’s high-impact potential. Torrens’ claim to fame has been his talent for gunning down would-be base-stealers, but he’s had zero at-bats this postseason and his last hit came on Labor Day before going 0-for-16 since that Sept. 2 win over the Red Sox.
Factor in Alvarez’s chemistry with Game 4 starter Jose Quintana (2.87 ERA, .207 opponent’s batting average) and Mendoza’s choice didn’t feel quite as controversial. He’s had a hot hand so far this season, so there was a chance the manager’s faith might get rewarded. Alvarez just couldn’t fix the Mets’ funk on his own.
“If he didn’t want me to play today, I kind of understand that because I didn't do good yesterday and the past three or four days,” Alvarez said before Game 4. “But he gives me the confidence. And today is another day. I can have a different result and can flip everything today.”
But it was the same result Thursday for the Mets, who weren’t able to flip anything in Game 4, winding up flat on their backs instead.
David Lennon is an award-winning columnist, a voter for baseball's Hall of Fame and has covered six no-hitters, including two perfect games.
