Sports
Mets take miracle run to NLCS by conquering rival Phillies on euphoric Francisco Lindor grand slam
For five-plus innings on Wednesday the sellout crowd at Citi Field waited patiently for the chance to erupt, and finally Francisco Lindor provided that moment.
One swing.
Four runs.
Hello, National League Championship Series.
Lindor’s mighty bat delivered a sixth-inning grand slam that helped remove the Phillies from the Mets’ October “to-do” list with a 4-1 victory in Game 4 of the NLDS.
The Mets will face either the Padres or Dodgers beginning Sunday in Game 1 of the NLCS. The Padres started the night with a 2-1 lead in their best-of-five series against the Dodgers.
Edwin Diaz, after walking two batters in the ninth, added the punctuation mark by striking out Kyle Schwarber for the final out.
Diaz’s teammates rushed from the dugout and fireworks detonated above the ballpark.
“To do it at home, it’s cool because you get to celebrate not only with your family, but the fans,” Lindor said.
After threatening early — twice loading the bases without scoring — the Mets, behind 1-0, again rallied in the sixth.
J.D. Martinez singled against Jeff Hoffman, Starling Marte was hit by a pitch and Tyrone Taylor walked.
After Francisco Alvarez hit a grounder that became a force out at the plate, Phillies manager Rob Thomson inserted reliever Carlos Estevez.
Lindor went ahead 2-1 in the count before launching a 99-mph fastball over the fence in right-center to start the countdown party.
Nine outs later, the Mets celebrated the first home clincher in Citi Field’s 16 seasons of existence.
OMG sign in the clubhouse after winning the NLDS on Oct. 9, 2024. Charles Wenzelberg / New York Post
“I want to win it all,” Lindor said. “And ours will be a team that will forever be remembered. This will be a team that comes every 10 years and eat for free everywhere they go. I want to do that. But the job is not done.”
Team owner Steve Cohen was asked if the $341 million contract he gave Lindor before the 2021 season was money well spent.
“That 341 is looking pretty freakin’ good right now,” Cohen told The Post.
Lindor’s blast was just the latest dramatic homer by the shortstop, whose ninth inning shot in Atlanta on Sept. 30 in the first game of a doubleheader helped clinch a postseason berth for the Mets.
The Phillies were the NL East champions, but that designation got them exactly one playoff victory.
The Mets, who entered the postseason as a wild card with the No. 6 seed, needed a victory on the final day of the regular season just to reach the playoffs.
They followed with two victories in three games to win the NL Wild Card Series in Milwaukee.
“This is a first-class organization,” manager Carlos Mendoza said. “We’ve got great people here. I’m proud of the fan base. Mets Nation, this is for you.”
On this night Reed Garrett, David Peterson and Diaz combined on four scoreless innings in relief behind a superb start from Jose Quintana.
The Phillies managed only an unearned run against Quintana over five innings.
The left-hander allowed only two hits and two walks and a hit batter, with six strikeouts before departing at 90 pitches, after he allowed a leadoff double to Bryce Harper in the sixth.
The Mets loaded the bases with one out in the first inning against Ranger Suarez, but couldn’t capitalize, as Jose Iglesias and Martinez struck out successively in non-competitive at-bats.
Suarez was again in trouble in the second, when Mark Vientos’ two-out single loaded the bases.
But the left-hander retired Brandon Nimmo to escape with the game still scoreless, despite having thrown 57 pitches through two innings.
Pete Alonso continued the Mets’ parade of base runners by drawing a leadoff walk in the third, but after Iglesias struck out, Martinez hit into an inning-ending double play.
Quintana dented in the fourth, walking Bryce Harper and allowing a double to Nick Castellanos. Alec Bohm hit a slow grounder on which Vientos considered throwing home, but fumbled.
Harper scored the game’s first run, but Quintana escaped further trouble by retiring J.T. Realmuto and Bryson Stott.
Quintana drilled Schwarber with two outs in the fifth, but recovered to strike out Trea Turner and keep the deficit at one run.
The Mets stranded two additional runners in the fifth. Lindor doubled leading off the inning and Vientos walked, ending Suarez’s outing.
Hoffman struck out Nimmo and Alonso before retiring Iglesias, increasing the Mets’ left-on-base total to eight through five innings.
Quintana was removed after Harper’s double in the sixth. Garrett recorded two outs in the inning with a batter walked before Peterson retired Stott for the final out.
“We have a bunch of really good baseball players that can do a lot of things right,” Lindor said. “And when you focus on little things, big things can happen.”
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