New York Mets’ Mark Vientos, left, follows through with his grand slam home run as Los Angeles Dodgers relief pitcher Landon Knack, center, watches with catcher Will Smith during the second inning in Game 2 of a baseball NL Championship Series, Monday, Oct. 14. , 2024, in Los Angeles.
10:20 JST, October 15, 2024
LOS ANGELES (AP) — Francisco Lindor and Mark Vientos homered as the New York Mets stopped the Los Angeles Dodgers’ record-tying postseason winless streak in a 7-3 win Monday, clinching the NL Championship Series by one game equalized.
Lindor extended his storybook season with a leadoff home run in the first inning against Ryan Brasier. Viento performed during the five-run second in New York, hitting a grand slam against Landon Knack.
Before Lindor went deep, Los Angeles was on a streak of 33 straight scoreless innings. Jack Flaherty led the Dodgers to a 9-0 victory in Game 1 of the NLCS on Sunday night.
Sean Manaea opened Game 2 with four shutout innings for New York. He was charged with three runs, two earned runs and two hits in five-plus innings. Closer Edwin Diaz earned a four-out save.
Los Angeles Dodgers’ Shohei Ohtani prepares to bat during the first inning in Game 2 of a baseball NL Championship Series against the New York Mets, Monday, Oct. 14, 2024, in Los Angeles.
Dodgers superstar Shohei Ohtani went 0 for 3 with two strikeouts and two walks. He remains hitless with the bases empty in his first postseason.
Game 3 of the best-of-seven series is Wednesday in New York.
The Mets jumped over the Dodgers after a flop in the series opener.
Lindor fouled off four consecutive Brasier pitches before sending a shot 350 feet to right for his leadoff homer.
Knack took over for LA in the second and gave up a leadoff single to Starling Marte and then walked Jesse Winker. One out later, Tyrone Taylor doubled to left to score Marte.
After Francisco Alvarez reached the shortstop on a pop stop, Lindor was walked intentionally, loading the bases. Vientos sent a 370-foot shot up the middle for the third grand slam in Mets playoff history. That extended the lead to 6-0 and silenced the sold-out crowd of 52,926.
It was the Mets’ second blow in the playoffs. Lindor hit a go-ahead hit in Game 4 of the NL Division Series against Philadelphia. Edgardo Alfonzo had the club’s first playoff slam in 1999.
The Dodgers had the potential tying run at home with two outs in the eighth.
Tommy Edman singled and Max Muncy walked before the Mets brought in Diaz. They advanced on a double steal before Kiké Hernández flied out to shallow right field to end the threat.
After Muncy homered in the fifth inning, the Dodgers rallied in the sixth to trail 6-3, igniting the crowd again.
Manaea issued consecutive walks to Mookie Betts and Teoscar Hernández to lead off the inning. Freddie Freeman grounded into a high-bouncing fielder’s choice that Jose Iglesias couldn’t field cleanly. Hernández was safely in second place after the mistake when Manaea took off.
Edman singled and struckout Phil Maton, scoring Betts and Hernández. Muncy walked to load the bases again and put Kiké Hernández on base.
He hit a grounder into the glove of third baseman Vientos, who initially bobbled the ball before throwing it to second base, where Muncy slid into Iglesias’ leg. Pete Alonso then kept his foot on the bag as he stretched to reel in Iglesias’ throw.
The Dodgers challenged the double play call, but it was upheld and the inning ended.
Manaea was the first left-handed starter the Dodgers have faced this postseason. They saw a lot of him during his time with San Diego in 2022 and San Francisco last year. But midway through this season he changed his game with the Mets, ditching his arm slot and releasing the ball more horizontally.
The Mets took advantage of hard-throwing Dodgers rookie Edgardo Henriquez with an insurance run in the ninth.
