Thanks to a leadoff home run from Francisco Lindor and a grand slam by Mark Vientos, the New York Mets defeated the Los Angeles Dodgers 7-3 on Monday afternoon. The victory, which took place at Dodger Stadium in Los Angeles, evens the National League Championship Series at 1-1.
Now, the Mets and Dodgers travel across the United States and get set for three games at Citi Field in Queens, N.Y. Entering Monday’s game, the Dodgers had a 33-inning scoreless innings streak. Lindor, though, smoked a Ryan Brasier pitch over the right-field wall for an early 1-0 Mets lead.
New York Mets Find A Way To Win
“I didn’t know it,” Lindor said of the Dodgers’ streak. “I was just trying to have a quality at-bat and get the guys going.”
Los Angeles Dodgers manager Dave Roberts went into Monday’s Game 2 planning for a bullpen game. In a way, Roberts’ strategy mirrored what Detroit Tigers manager A.J. Hinch did in the regular season and postseason. But Dodgers pitcher Landon Knack got touched up.
Starling Marte led off the Mets’ second inning with a single. Knack walked Jesse Winker and, with one out, Tyrone Taylor smacked a double to left field. Marte scored and put the Mets up 2-0. Francisco Alvarez popped out to shortstop for the second out. Then, the Dodgers decided to walk Lindor and load the bases, The Associated Press reported.
MARK VIENTOS GRAND SLAM
THE @METS ARE RAKING IN LA 🤯 pic.twitter.com/DIQYRNusVa
— MLB (@MLB) October 14, 2024
That strategy backfired. Vientos drove a Knack pitch over the center-field wall, making it the third New York Mets grand slam in postseason play. The Mets went up 6-0 in the second inning and took the packed Dodger Stadium crowd out of the NLCS contest.
“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,” Vientos said. “But I use it as motivation. I’m like, ‘All right, you want me up? I’m going to show you, whatever.’”
Yet the Los Angeles Dodgers refused to go down without a fight. In the eighth inning, the Dodgers had a potential tying run up with two outs. Tommy Edman connected for a single off Mets reliever Ryan Stanek and Max Muncy followed with a walk. That led New York Mets manager Carlos Mendoza to call in ace reliever Edwin Diaz to hopefully shut down the Dodgers’ rally.
Diaz did just that. Edman and Muncy moved up to second and third, respectively, on a double steal. But Diaz got Kiké Hernández to fly out to right field and that was the end of it for the Dodgers. Diaz earned a four-out save for the Mets.
“He’s one of the best hitters in the league, but I’ve got really good stuff,” Diaz said. “I just go after him. Hit the ball, if you get to two strikes, I will make you chase.”
Muncy slammed a solo home run in the fifth inning, getting Los Angeles on the board at 6-1. Then, the Dodgers scored two more runs in the sixth inning to make it 6-3.
Los Angeles Dodgers Try To Rally
New York Mets starter Sean Manaea was quite impressive in his outing. In the sixth, though, Manaea gave up back-to-back walks to Mookie Betts and Teoscar Hernández. First baseman Freddie Freeman, who is hobbling around gutting it out with an injured right ankle, hit a high grounder that ended up being a fielder’s choice. Second baseman Jose Iglesias couldn’t field the ball cleanly. Hernández was safe at second base on the error.
Manaea left and it led to Mendoza calling in Mets reliever Phil Maton. Down in the count two strikes, Edman connected on a two-run single against Maton, scoring Betts and Hernández. Muncy walked, loading up the bases again with Kiké Hernández coming up. But he ended up grounding to third. Vientos, who bobbled the ball a little bit, threw to second and Muncy slid into Iglesias’ leg.
THIS SERIES IS TIED. 😤
Mets win Game 2 in LA‼️ pic.twitter.com/qda63bLrEW
— FOX Sports: MLB (@MLBONFOX) October 14, 2024
Iglesias, though, made the throw to first base. New York Mets first baseman Pete Alonso was able to keep his toe on the first-base bag, stretching to snag Iglesias’ throw. After a challenge from the Dodgers, the out at first was confirmed and the double play ended the rally.
He grounded into the glove of third baseman Vientos, who initially bobbled the ball before throwing to second, where Muncy slid into the leg of Iglesias. Pete Alonso then kept his foot on the bag as he stretched to haul in Iglesias’ throw.
The Dodgers challenged the double-play call, but it was upheld and the inning ended.
For the Mets, throwing Manaea out there made him the first left-handed starter the Los Angeles Dodgers saw this postseason. Manaea had been a force in the National League West Division, though, with San Diego in 2022 and San Francisco in 2023. This season, though, he tweaked his pitching delivery a bit. Manaea dropped his arm a bit and started releasing the ball in a horizontal fashion.
Los Angeles superstar Shohei Ohtani is 0-for-19 with the bases empty this postseason. Roberts, though, made it clear that he was not planning to move Ohtani out of the leadoff spot.
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