NEW YORK (AP) 鈥� Not easy to knock out these New York Mets.
Pete Alonso golfed an early three-run homer and the Mets hammered an extending the National League Championship Series with a 12-6 victory over the Los Angeles Dodgers in Game 5 on Friday.
鈥淲e understood that this is a do-or-die game and we have to give everything we had, and that鈥檚 what we did,鈥� shortstop Francisco Lindor said.
had three doubles, four hits and three RBIs for New York. Francisco Alvarez broke out of a slump with three hits 鈥� including an RBI single in a five-run third inning.
Jesse Winker laced an RBI triple and so did Lindor, feeling good vibes after
鈥淲e showed up today. We needed that,鈥� Mets manager Carlos Mendoza said. 鈥淥bviously, Pete setting the tone in the first inning was important. We just continued to add on.鈥�
including the past two nights at home, the wild-card Mets turned the tables and saved their thrilling season for the second time in these playoffs 鈥� both with the help of a three-run shot by Alonso. They trimmed their series deficit to 3-2 and sent the best-of-seven NLCS back to Los Angeles for Game 6 on Sunday.
鈥淎fter yesterday鈥檚 game, we just had a collective conversation where it was like, hey, this is it,鈥� Alonso said. 鈥淭his is who we are. This is the situation we鈥檙e in and let鈥檚 keep continuing to lay it all out there.鈥�
Sean Manaea is lined up to start Sunday for New York on five days' rest, while the Dodgers will go with another bullpen game because of a thin rotation decimated by injuries.
鈥淲e come from a lot of adversity,鈥� Mets closer Edwin D铆az said. 鈥淲e can beat them.鈥�
With an opportunity to pitch his hometown team into the World Series, an ailing Flaherty flopped. After throwing he fell behind 3-0 four batters in when Alonso launched a low slider 432 feet to center field for his fourth homer this postseason.
鈥淗e wasn鈥檛 sharp, clearly. He鈥檚 been fighting something. He鈥檚 been under the weather a little bit,鈥� Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said about Flaherty. 鈥淪o I don鈥檛 know if that bled into the stuff, the velocity. I鈥檓 not sure.鈥�
Alonso, poised to become a prized free agent this fall, also hit That one was more dramatic, coming with New York trailing 2-0 and down to its final two outs in the ninth.
But once again, Alonso went deep to help that drafted him in 2016. The ball was just more than a foot above the ground when he connected, the second-lowest pitch Alonso has homered on in his career.
鈥淔or the rest of us mortals, we fly out. But for him, it鈥檚 just an absolute bomb. Just normal Pete,鈥� teammate Brandon Nimmo said.
The big slugger also scored four runs and fought back from an 0-2 count to draw a leadoff walk in the third, when the Mets batted around and opened an 8-1 cushion.
鈥淗e got us going,鈥� Mendoza said. 鈥淚 thought that Pete did a really good job controlling the strike zone today.鈥�
Aware it could be the last home game for Alonso at Citi Field, the sellout crowd of 43,841 chanted his name when he batted in the eighth.
鈥淚t's so special. It鈥檚 like storybook-type stuff,鈥� Alonso said. 鈥淲hen you grow up as a kid, you dream about that type of stuff.鈥�
Flaherty allowed eight runs and eight hits in three innings. He failed to strike out a batter for the first time since a September 2022 game with St. Louis against Pittsburgh.
After striking out 12 times Thursday night, the Mets did not whiff once. They became the first team to do that in the postseason since the Angels in Game 2 of the 2002 World Series against San Francisco.
鈥淲e didn鈥檛 chase his secondary pitches,鈥� Mendoza said, referring to Flaherty. 鈥淲e know he鈥檚 got that slider and the knuckle-curve, and he鈥檚 going to try to make us chase and we didn鈥檛 do that today. And when he came in the zone with his fastball, we were ready. And that鈥檚 the key.鈥�
New York starter David Peterson pitched out of serious trouble in the first 鈥� aided by a baserunning mistake from Shohei Ohtani 鈥� but was unable to make it through the fourth despite being given a seven-run lead. Reed Garrett entered with the bases loaded and threw a called third strike past Freddie Freeman on a full-count sweeper to end the inning.
Dodgers rookie Andy Pages homered twice and drove in four runs. Mookie Betts went deep for the second consecutive game, helping Los Angeles cut an eight-run deficit to 10-6.
鈥淚t was good to see our guys fight back,鈥� Roberts said. 鈥淐ertainly, offensively we鈥檙e in a really good spot.鈥�
But then Ryne Stanek and D铆az settled things down as the Mets put this one away. Stanek worked a career-high 2 1/3 innings for the victory, and D铆az got six outs without permitting a run.
鈥淚鈥檓 just so happy because this group is so special,鈥� Alonso said. 鈥淎nd I鈥檓 happy that we get to live to fight another day and play another game of baseball together.鈥�
To rally and take the NL pennant, though, the Mets need two more wins in LA.
鈥淚t鈥檚 definitely possible,鈥� Nimmo said. 鈥淲e鈥檝e played with our backs against the wall the whole year and we鈥檝e been able to rise to the occasion and some might even say we鈥檙e at our best at that time. So if anybody can do it, we can do it.鈥�
TRAINER鈥橲 ROOM
Dodgers: Freeman went 0 for 5 with two strikeouts in the cleanup spot, returning to the lineup after with a badly sprained right ankle that's caused him to miss two games this postseason. Roberts indicated the All-Star first baseman might not start in Game 6 against Manaea, a nasty left-hander.
鈥淚鈥檓 going to have a conversation with him tomorrow," Roberts said. "But I do think that his swing is not right. I鈥檓 certain it鈥檚 the ankle. We鈥檒l have that conversation, but it鈥檚 certainly an option to not have him in there for Game 6.鈥�
Mets: Jeff McNeil had two sacrifice flies in his first playoff start, replacing slumping Jose Iglesias at second base. for the NLCS 鈥� he had been 鈥� and was hitless in three pinch-hitting appearances before Friday.
UP NEXT
Manaea (12-6, 3.47 ERA) is 2-0 with 2.65 ERA in three playoff starts, including a
___
AP MLB:
Mike Fitzpatrick, The Associated Press
