By Zachary McMahon-
The New York Mets entered Wednesday one game away from entering the NLCS as they won Games 1 and 3 against the Philadelphia Phillies.
Jose Quintana tossed five innings for Mets, allowing two hits, one unearned run, two walks, and six strikeouts. Quintana started the sixth, but after Bryce Harper doubled, he was replaced by Reed Garrett, who had two strikeouts before he was replaced by David Peterson.
Ranger Suarez pitched 4 ⅓ innings for the Phillies, he allowed five hits with no earned runs, four walks, and eight strikeouts. He was taken out in the fifth inning after Francisco Lindor doubled and Matt Vientos walked, and was replaced by Jake Hoffman.
After Harper walked in the fourth, Nick Castellanos doubled to left field, and then Vientos had a fielding error that allowed Harper to score on a fielder’s choice on a ball hit by Alec Bohm, and Castellanos advanced to third. J.T. Realmuto flew out and Bryson Stott struck out to end the inning, as the Phillies could not score any more runs, for what would be the rest of the game.
The Mets had a jam packed sixth inning, J.D. Martinez led off with a single, and then advanced to second base on a wild pitch by Hoffman. Hoffman was all over the place, as he hit Marte, and then threw another wild pitch that put Martinez and Marte at third and second respectively. Tyrone Taylor’s walk loaded the bases and Francisco Alvarez was at the plate. As a result of a force out, Martinez was thrown out at home and Alvarez reached on a fielder’s choice, but that would not stop the Mets from scoring big time, as Lindor hits a go-ahead grand slam ad they Mets took the lead 4-1.
This was the second time a Met has hit a grand slam in the postseason, Edgardo Alfonzo hit a go-ahead grand slam in the top of the ninth inning in Game 1 of the 1999 NLDS against the Arizona Diamondbacks, as it have them a 8-4 victory. Similarly to this series, the Mets won the series in four games, but lost to the Atlanta Braves in the NLCS, as the Braves went on to lose to the Mets’ inner-city rival, the New York Yankees.
The last time the Phillies allowed a grand slam was in Game 2 of the 2007 NLDS against the Colorado Rockies, Kasuo Matsui hit a grand slam for Colorado. Colorado ended up sweeping the series, and then eventually advanced to the World Series, only to get swept by the Boston Red Sox.
After blowing a save in Game 2, Edwin Diaz looked for his first save of the playoffs. He walked his first two batters in Realmuto and Stott, but struck out Kody Clemens and Kyle Scwarber to shut down and eliminate the Phillies in Game 4 of the NLDS.
The Mets advanced to the NLCS for the first time since 2015, when they swept the Chicago Cubs to advance to the World Series, which is when they lost to the Kansas City Royals. At the time of writing they are slated to face either the Los Angeles Dodgers or the San Diego Padres, and the Padres are leading 2-1 in the NLDS series. This is the third year in a row the sixth seed in the National League has reached the NLCS, as the Phillies made it and won in 2022, and the Arizona Diamondbacks made it and won in 2023, and both teams advanced to the World Series.
The NLCS is slated to start on Sunday and the whole series will be broadcasted on FOX and FS1, check your local listings.
Sports Insider Daily 