The Mets, unflinching despite being beset with struggles, reversed course after being 23-33 on May 30 and ended the regular season 89-73 to earn a wildcard spot. They willed their way past the Milwaukee Brewers and Philadelphia Phillies with indelible come-from-behind wins in the first two rounds of the playoffs to reach the doorstep of the World Series.
On Monday, in Game 2 of the National League Championship Series, it seemed a foregone conclusion that the Mets would resoundingly assert themselves after a 9-0 road loss to the Los Angeles Dodgers in Game 1 less than 24 hours earlier. National League MVP candidate Francisco Lindor ensured they would.
While he won’t win the award, it’s a certainty that his opponent in the NLCS, Dodgers designated hitter Shohei Ohtani, will soon become only the second player in Major League Baseball history to be a regular season MVP in both the American League (Angels) and NL, joining the late Hall of Famer Frank Robinson as the first with that distinction. No one has been better than Lindor this postseason.
He ignited the Mets’ offensive attack with a 395-foot leadoff homer given up by Dodgers pitcher Ryan Brasier to start the game, then in the top of the second, was intentionally walked to load the bases for budding star Mark Vientos, who hammered a 391-foot grand slam to highlight a five-run frame and put the Mets 6-0. Led by starter Sean Maaea, who threw five effective innings, the Mets’ pitching staff held down the Dodgers’ lethal lineup and snatched a 7-3 victory.
“You’ve got Francisco ahead of me, and he hit a home run earlier in the game, so they would rather take a chance on me than him,” said Vientos via the Associated Press. “But I use it as motivation. I’m like, ‘All right, you want me up? I’m going to show you, whatever.’”
The series moved 3,000 miles to CitiField, with Game 3 tied 1-1 last night and Luis Severino taking the ball for the Mets to begin the matchup versus the Dodgers starter Walker Buehler. Games 4 and 5 are on Thursday (8:08 and 5:08). Depending on how the best-of-seven series unfolds, Games 6 (Sunday, 8:08) and 7 (Monday, 8:08) will be in L.A.
Yet, it was the outcome of Game 2 that further emboldened a Mets squad that is supremely confident and hopeful as they continue an emotional but process-driven deep playoff journey guided by manager Carlos Mendoza, with an architecture conceived and constructed by general manager David Stearns. Both are in the first year of their positions with the franchise.
The Dodgers pitching staff had not allowed a run in its previous 33 innings, going back to their National League Division Series against the San Diego Padres, before Lindor touched them for a homer on Monday. With an injury-plagued starting rotation, Dodgers manager Dave Roberts went totally with his bullpen versus the Mets, as he did in Game 4 of the NLDS, where he faced elimination when he called on all relief pitchers to shut down the Padres 8-0. But they couldn’t reproduce their superlative showing.
“When you’re facing a bullpen day, I think it’s hard to game plan, but you’ve got to go out there make adjustments, whether it’s putting the ball in play, moving a guy over, getting a guy in,” said rookie Mets manager Carlos Mendoza. “Those are the little things that you have to do to win games in the playoffs when you’re facing an elite pitching staff.”
