The Mets haven’t relied on the big hit all season and they weren’t about to start Wednesday night in Game 4 of the NLDS. But they got to a point where they needed it badly, leaving eight runners on through the first five innings against the Philadelphia Phillies.
They loaded the bases on closer Carlos Estevez in the bottom of the sixth with no outs, only to run into the first out at home. But when the big one came, the Mets made it worth it.
Francisco Lindor teed off on a fastball over the plate, sending it into the visitor’s bullpen for a go-ahead grand slam, sending a sellout crowd of 44,103 into an absolute frenzy Wednesday night at Citi Field. The Mets defeated the Phillies 4-1 to advance to the NLCS for the first time since 2015.
Finally.
Finally, the Mets broke through. Finally, they made the deep playoff run they had been promising fans for years, and it’s still going, with the Mets awaiting the winner of the San Diego Padres-Los Angeles Dodgers series to see who they’ll face next in the best-of-seven NLCS.
Finally, there was a clinching celebration at Citi Field. It was the first time the Mets won a clinching game at home since 2000.
Finally.
Left-hander Jose Quintana gave the Mets a chance to win with a solid outing, holding the Phillies to only the one unearned run over five innings (plus one batter) on two hits, walking two and striking out six.
The only problem was that the Mets couldn’t seem to give him any run support.
Baserunners weren’t hard to come by, but hits with baserunners sure were for the Mets.
They loaded the bases in the first and second innings against left-hander Ranger Suarez and left them loaded both times. Pete Alonso was issued a leadoff walk in the third inning but Jose Iglesias struck out behind him and J.D. Martinez grounded into a double play.
After going down 1-0 in the top of the fourth, Suarez went 1-2-3 in the bottom of the inning. He gave up a leadoff double to Francisco Lindor in the fifth and a walk to Mark Vientos. But Brandon Nimmo looked at strike 3 and Pete Alonso did the same against right-hander Jeff Hoffman, who came in to relieve Suarez after the left struck out Nimmo.
Iglesias barely chopped the ball past the box. He hustled to first base, but catcher J.T. Realmuto made an easy putout at first.
The Phillies left six on through five innings, but they still managed to take a lead on an unearned run in the fourth. The energy started to drag. A nervous energy overtook the crowd as the Mets went down 1-0.
Quintana came back out for the sixth and gave up a leadoff double to Bryce Harper. Manager Carlos Mendoza was quick with the hook, bringing in right-hander Reed Garrett to face the middle of the order. Garrett sandwiched a walk in between two strikeouts and again, out came Mendoza.
The manager brought in left-hander David Peterson, who transformed into one of the Mets’ most dominant starting pitchers this season. Peterson got Bryson Stott to ground out to Alonso at first base. Mendoza played it perfectly, managing to win now instead of saving Peterson for a potential Game 5. The homegrown hurler bridged the gap to closer Edwin Diaz with 2 1/3 scoreless innings.
The trumpets sounded. Diaz looked shaky, walking the first two hitters he faced before striking out pinch-hitter Kody Clemens. He settled down and retired the next two. Finally, down went the Phillies and on went the Mets.