NLDS: Lindor Slams Mets Past Phillies into NLCS

The Mets celebrate their Division Series victory over the Philadelphia Phillies.

Photo by Elsa/Getty Images

October 9, 2024

Mets 4, Phillies 1

A sixth-inning grand slam by Francisco Lindor led the New York Mets to a 4–1 victory over the Philadelphia Phillies Wednesday night at Citi Field in New York. The win gave the Mets a 3–1 series victory over the rival Phillies, sending the Mets to their ninth NLCS and first since 2015.

“We’ve been through a lot, man,” Mets manager Carlos Mendoza said in the postgame press conference. “0–5. 11 games under .500. There was so much adversity and injuries. From the beginning, nobody had us doing anything this year. This was supposed to be a transition year, but we kept believing. We knew we had really good players, knew we had great people, and we just kept doing our thing. Here we are. On to the next series and continue taking it one day at a time.”

The Mets had loaded the bases in the first and second innings against Phillies starting pitcher Ranger Suarez but failed to score both times. But in the sixth, the Mets victimized two Phillies relievers to take control of the game.

“Quintana did a hell of a job,” Mendoza added, “and then the bullpen — Reed Garrett, Peterson kept us in the game. We were one swing away, and today our MVP came through again.”

Mets – Phillies Game Summary

The Phillies took a 1–0 lead in the fourth after scoring an unearned run. With one out and runners on second and third, Phillies third baseman Alec Bohm hit a bouncer toward his counterpart, Mark Vientos. Vientos, playing in, was setting up to throw home but couldn’t field the baseball cleanly. Consequently, everyone was safe on the error.

The Mets responded in the sixth off All-Star Phillies reliever Jeff Hoffman. A leadoff single by J.D. Martinez, followed by a plunking of Starling Marte and walk of Tyrone Taylor, loaded the bases. During the Marte and Taylor at-bats, a pair of wild pitches made the situation even more interesting. When Francisco Alvarez grounded into a fielder’s choice force play at home, the Mets were two outs away from leaving the bases loaded for the third time in the game.

Fireballer and mid-season acquisition Carlos Estevez took the hill in relief of Hoffman to face Francisco Lindor. On 2–1, Lindor smashed a 99-mph fastball deep into the Flushing night, the baseball poetically landing in the Phillies’ bullpen for a lead-flipping grand slam.

Mets relievers held the Phillies at bay the rest of the evening, with the series ending on a Kyle Schwarber strikeout at the hands of Mets closer Edwin Diaz.

What Went Right for the Mets

Pitching

The Mets pitching staff limited the dangerous Phillies lineup to one unearned run on four hits. They walked five, hit one batter, and struck out eleven. “The Mets did a really good job on us,” said Phillies manager Rob Thomson. “I thought we had pretty good at-bats today (without) much to show for it. We had a couple of opportunities, and Quintana pitched pretty well. But offense comes and goes, and it’s hard to explain, really.”

Sustained Offensive Pressure

With all the baserunners the Mets had, they were bound to break through. As mentioned earlier, that happened in the sixth when Lindor hit the slam. “I was excited,” Mendoza said of all the early traffic. “I was thinking we were going to get to them at some point.”

What Went Wrong for the Mets

Missed Opportunities

The Mets left ten runners on base, with six being in scoring position. In both the first and second innings, the Mets left the bases loaded.

Walks

Mets pitchers walked five, with two coming in the ninth inning. The ninth-inning walks allowed the Phillies to bring the tying run to the plate in the ninth with nobody out. Even further, eight of the first ten and nine of the first twelve pitches by Diaz were balls.

What Went Right for the Phillies

Escaping Jams

Ranger Suarez put nine men on base but did not allow any runs thanks to eight strikeouts and a timely inning-ending double-play groundout in the third.

Harper and Castellanos

Bryce Harper and Nick Castellanos combined to go 3-for-7 with a walk and two strikeouts, with Harper scoring the team’s only run.

What Went Wrong for the Phillies

Lack of Offensive Production

Phillies hitters not named “Harper” or “Castellanos” went a combined 1-for-24 with four walks and nine strikeouts. Additionally, the Phillies as a team went 0-for-9 with runners in scoring position.

Relief Pitching

As has happened in the other three games of the series, the Phillies relievers could not keep runners off base. Not only did Hoffman and Estevez combine to give up the four runs, but when Matt Strahm pitched a 1–2–3 ninth, that was only the second 1–2–3 inning pitched by any Phillies reliever all series. The other came when Estevez pitched a 1–2–3 eighth in Game Two.

Quick Hits

The Mets’ previous eight trips to the NLCS have produced five pennants. They won two pennants while the NLCS was best-of-five: 1969, a three-game sweep of the Atlanta Braves; and 1973, a five-game win over the heavily favored Cincinnati Reds. Since the LCS expanded to best-of-seven in 1985, the Mets won three more pennants: 1986, a classic six-game victory over the Houston Astros; 2000, in five over the St. Louis Cardinals; and 2015, a four-game sweep of the Chicago Cubs. The Mets lost the NLCS in 1988 to the Los Angeles Dodgers in seven, 1999 to the Braves in six, and 2006 to the Cardinals in seven.

This is the first time since Citi Field opened in 2009 that the Mets have closed out a postseason series at home. … Francisco Lindor is the second (or third) Met to hit a lead-flipping grand slam in the sixth inning or later of a postseason game. The other official one came from Edgardo Alfonzo in Game One of the 1999 NLDS against the Arizona Diamondbacks. In the NLCS against the Braves a few days later, Robin Ventura hit the famous “grand-slam single” to end Game Five. He hit the baseball over the fence with the bases loaded, but his teammates mobbed him between first and second base, preventing him from running out the homer, so it was scored as a single.

Since the Wild Card Series became permanent in 2022, the six-seed in the National League has made the NLCS each season. … This was the fourth time the Phillies have lost a Division Series out of nine appearances. The previous three were 1981, 3–2 to the Montréal Expos; 2007, 3–0 to the Colorado Rockies; and 2011, 3–2 to the Cardinals.

Quotes

“We have a bunch of really good baseball players that can do a lot of things right. When you focus on little things, big things can happen. My at-bat doesn’t come up if it weren’t for the guys in front of me. J.D. starting the inning, Marte, Tyrone — you have all those guys. Alvy, even though he didn’t get a base hit, but still he got on base. Any one of us could have done it, it just worked out it was me today.” — Francisco Lindor

“Hats off to the Phillies and Rob Thomson and the whole group there. Unbelievable year for them, winning the division. That’s a really good team that is coached really well and managed really well.” — Carlos Mendoza

“Congrats to the Mets. They have a really good club. They played well; they never gave up. Their second half was unbelievable. I thought Mendy did a great job. Again, they really played well.” — Rob Thomson

“It feels amazing to be able to continue to move forward. It’s been an uphill fight; it’s been tough. But we’re still not where we want to be. We’ve got to continue to play the game the right way day in and day out.” — Francisco Lindor

Looking Ahead

David Peterson earned the win as Jeff Hoffman took the loss, both in relief. Edwin Diaz notched the save.

The Mets will face the winner of the Los Angeles Dodgers and San Diego Padres, who will square off in a decisive Game Five Friday night. Whoever wins that series will host the Mets for Games One and Two of the NLCS on Sunday and Monday.