A sixth-inning grand slam by Francisco Lindor<\/a><\/strong> led the New York Mets<\/a> to a 4\u20131 victory over the Philadelphia Phillies<\/a> Wednesday night at Citi Field in New York. The win gave the Mets a 3\u20131 series victory over the rival Phillies, sending the Mets to their ninth NLCS and first since 2015.<\/p>\n \u201cWe’ve been through a lot, man,\u201d Mets manager Carlos Mendoza<\/a><\/strong> said in the postgame press conference. \u201c0\u20135. 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.\u201d<\/p>\n The Mets had loaded the bases in the first and second innings against Phillies starting pitcher Ranger Suarez<\/a><\/strong> but failed to score both times. But in the sixth, the Mets victimized two Phillies relievers to take control of the game.<\/p>\n \u201cQuintana did a hell of a job,\u201d Mendoza added, \u201cand then the bullpen \u2014 Reed Garrett<\/a><\/strong>, Peterson kept us in the game. We were one swing away, and today our MVP came through again.\u201d<\/p>\n The Phillies took a 1\u20130 lead in the fourth after scoring an unearned run. With one out and runners on second and third, Phillies third baseman Alec Bohm<\/a><\/strong> hit a bouncer toward his counterpart, Mark Vientos<\/a><\/strong>. Vientos, playing in, was setting up to throw home but couldn\u2019t field the baseball cleanly. Consequently, everyone was safe on the error.<\/p>\n The Mets responded in the sixth off All-Star Phillies reliever Jeff Hoffman<\/a><\/strong>. A leadoff single by J.D. Martinez<\/a><\/strong>, followed by a plunking of Starling Marte<\/a><\/strong> and walk of Tyrone Taylor<\/a><\/strong>, loaded the bases. During the Marte and Taylor at-bats, a pair of wild pitches made the situation even more interesting. When Francisco Alvarez<\/a><\/strong> grounded into a fielder\u2019s choice force play at home, the Mets were two outs away from leaving the bases loaded for the third time in the game.<\/p>\n Fireballer and mid-season acquisition Carlos Estevez<\/a><\/strong> took the hill in relief of Hoffman to face Francisco Lindor. On 2\u20131, Lindor smashed a 99-mph fastball deep into the Flushing night, the baseball poetically landing in the Phillies\u2019 bullpen for a lead-flipping grand slam.<\/p>\n Mets relievers held the Phillies at bay the rest of the evening, with the series ending on a Kyle Schwarber<\/a><\/strong> strikeout at the hands of Mets closer Edwin Diaz<\/a><\/strong>.<\/p>\n 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. \u201cThe Mets did a really good job on us,\u201d said Phillies manager Rob Thomson<\/a><\/strong>. \u201cI 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.\u201d<\/p>\n 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. \u201cI was excited,\u201d Mendoza said of all the early traffic. \u201cI was thinking we were going to get to them at some point.\u201d<\/p>\n 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.<\/p>\n 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.<\/p>\n 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.<\/p>\n Bryce Harper<\/a><\/strong> and Nick Castellanos<\/a><\/strong> combined to go 3-for-7 with a walk and two strikeouts, with Harper scoring the team\u2019s only run.<\/p>\n Phillies hitters not named \u201cHarper\u201d or \u201cCastellanos\u201d 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.<\/p>\n 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<\/strong> <\/a>pitched a 1\u20132\u20133 ninth, that was only the second 1\u20132\u20133 inning pitched by any Phillies reliever all series. The other came when Estevez pitched a 1\u20132\u20133 eighth in Game Two.<\/p>\n The Mets\u2019 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<\/a>; and 1973, a five-game win over the heavily favored Cincinnati Reds<\/a>. 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<\/a>; 2000, in five over the St. Louis Cardinals<\/a>; and 2015, a four-game sweep of the Chicago Cubs<\/a>. The Mets lost the NLCS in 1988 to the Los Angeles Dodgers<\/a> in seven, 1999 to the Braves in six, and 2006 to the Cardinals in seven.<\/p>\n This is the first time since Citi Field opened in 2009 that the Mets have closed out a postseason series at home. \u2026 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<\/a><\/strong> in Game One of the 1999 NLDS against the Arizona Diamondbacks<\/a>. In the NLCS against the Braves a few days later, Robin Ventura<\/a><\/strong> hit the famous \u201cgrand-slam single\u201d 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.<\/p>\n Since the Wild Card Series became permanent in 2022, the six-seed in the National League has made the NLCS each season. \u2026 This was the fourth time the Phillies have lost a Division Series out of nine appearances. The previous three were 1981, 3\u20132 to the Montr\u00e9al Expos; 2007, 3\u20130 to the Colorado Rockies<\/a>; and 2011, 3\u20132 to the Cardinals.<\/p>\n \u201cWe 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 \u2014 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.\u201d \u2014 Francisco Lindor<\/em><\/p>\n \u201cHats 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.\u201d \u2014 Carlos Mendoza<\/em><\/p>\n \u201cCongrats 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.\u201d \u2014 Rob Thomson<\/em><\/p>\n \u201cIt 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.\u201d \u2014 Francisco Lindor<\/em><\/p>\n David Peterson<\/a><\/strong> earned the win as Jeff Hoffman took the loss, both in relief. Edwin Diaz notched the save.<\/p>\n The Mets will face the winner of the Los Angeles Dodgers and San Diego Padres<\/a>, 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.<\/p>\nMets \u2013 Phillies Game Summary<\/h3>\n
What Went Right for the Mets<\/h3>\n
Pitching<\/h4>\n
Sustained Offensive Pressure<\/h4>\n
What Went Wrong for the Mets<\/h3>\n
Missed Opportunities<\/h4>\n
Walks<\/h4>\n
What Went Right for the Phillies<\/h3>\n
Escaping Jams<\/h4>\n
Harper and Castellanos<\/h4>\n
What Went Wrong for the Phillies<\/h3>\n
Lack of Offensive Production<\/h4>\n
Relief Pitching<\/h4>\n
Quick Hits<\/h3>\n
Quotes<\/h3>\n
Looking Ahead<\/h3>\n
Main Photo:<\/h4>\n