LOS ANGELES — Who would’ve thought the Mets would make it to Game 6 of the National League Championship Series when they were 22-33 after an embarrassing May 29th loss to the Los Angeles Dodgers?
Then, it took every ounce of the Mets’ energy to even make it to the playoffs, winning a game in a doubleheader on the last day of the season.
“From 0-5 to OMG,” SNY announcer Gary Cohen said when the Mets finally clinched a postseason berth on Game 161.
The magic continued in the postseason — until Game 6 of the NL Championship Series against Los Angeles, which beat the Mets 10-5 on Sunday at Dodger Stadium to win the best-of-seven series 4-2.
BUY METS TICKETS: STUBHUB, VIVID SEATS, TICKETMASTER
Neither Grimace nor Jose Iglesias’ “OMG!” nor Pete Alonso’s playoff pumpkin could fuel any more good luck for these Mets, who finished 89-73 and then knocked off the Milwaukee Brewers (Wild Card Series; 2-1) and Philadelphia Phillies (NL Division Series; 3-1).
The game started off promising for the Mets. Lindor led off the game with a walk and wound up on second on a wild pitch. Then, Alonso followed with an infield single. A throwing error by the second baseman allowed Lindor to score and Alonso to advance to second.
The Dodgers followed in the bottom of the inning, scoring two runs on three hits (two doubles). It was the first and only time in this series that there’s been a lead change. Fortunately, Mets starter Sean Manaea was able to limit the damage to just two runs. He stranded two more runners in the inning but needed to exhaust 34 pitches in the process.
In the third inning, the Dodgers knocked Manaea out of the game. That’s when Dodgers shortstop Tommy Edman hit a two-run home run into the left-field seats to give Los Angeles a 4-1 lead. Edman’s 11 RBIs tied an NLCS Dodger record set by Corey Seager in 2020.
After Manaea walked the next batter, Carlos Mendoza pulled Manaea for Phil Maton. Manaea allowed five earned runs on six hits and two walks over two innings.
Maton’s outing started strong, retiring the first two batters he faced, but he allowed a two-run home run to the next batter Chris Taylor, extending the Dodgers’ lead to 6-1.
Mets third baseman Mark Vientos answered back in the fourth inning. With Ryan Brasier in the game in relief, Vientos took his second pitch 401 feet to center field for a two-run home run, cutting the Dodgers’ lead to 6-3.
Seeing an opportunity to preserve a three-run deficit, Mendoza turned to his high-leverage relievers in the fourth inning. First came Edwin Díaz, who pitched two innings (23 pitches) in Game 5. Díaz pitched another two innings in Game 6 and didn’t allow a run, throwing just 22 pitches.
The Mets missed a big opportunity to turn the game around in the sixth inning. That’s when Jesse Winker stepped up to the plate with the bases loaded and two outs, representing the leading run. Winker flew out to left field to end the inning without scoring a run.
This was a trend for the Mets in this series. They left 55 runners on base and went 10-for-56 (.178 batting average) with runners in scoring position. They had two bases-loaded chances within the first three innings, including one with a 2-1 score where Mendoza stuck with Jeff McNeil against the left-handed Anthony Banda. McNeil struck out.
The Dodgers tacked on a run in the bottom of the sixth. With Ryne Stanek on the mound, three consecutive batters got on. The final batter, Shohei Ohtani, padded the Dodgers’ lead with a one-run single putting the score at 7-4. Ohtani is 18-for-22 with runners in scoring position this postseason.
In the eighth inning, with Kodai Senga on the mound, the Dodgers added three more runs to their lead. The first came on a Mookie Betts one-run double, another on a Teoscar Hernández sacrifice fly and the last an RBI single by Kiké Hernández, giving Los Angeles a 10-4 lead.
Thank you for relying on us to provide the journalism you can trust. Please consider supporting us with a subscription.
Manny Gómez may be reached at mgomez@njadvancemedia.com.
