Lindsanity! Francisco Slams Mets into NLCS

Edwin Díaz struck out Kyle Schwarber to end the game and let out a shout! The party is on! The New York Mets are going to the National League Championship Series! OMG!

Francisco Lindor sent a packed Citi Field into pandemonium with a go-ahead grand slam in the sixth inning and the Mets went on to a 4-1 series-clinching victory over the Phillies in Game 4 of the National League Division Series. The Mets will make their first trip to the NLCS since 2015.

It took awhile for New York to break through.

With the crowd dying to erupt, New York left the bases loaded in each of the first two innings. In the first, Ranger Suárez struck out Jose Iglesias and J.D. Martinez with the bases full. In the second, the lefty got Brandon Nimmo to ground out to first to end the threat.

Suárez became the first pitcher in postseason history to allow 4+ hits and 2+ walks in the first two innings and not allow a run.

The Mets had another excellent scoring chance in the fifth after Lindor led off with a double and Mark Vientos walked. But Suárez fanned Nimmo with his 97th and final pitch. Phillies manager Rob Thomson then brought in Jeff Hoffman, who struck out Pete Alonso and retired Iglesias on a weak bouncer in front of the plate.

The sixth inning would end differently. Martinez led off with a single. Then came the following sequence: wild pitch, hit batter, wild pitch, walk. The bases were loaded with nobody out and up came Francisco Alvarez. He grounded to short, Martinez was forced out at home and Thomson brought in Carlos Estévez to face Lindor with one out.

And Lindor, who hit a go-ahead homer in the Mets’ playoff clincher in Atlanta, who broke up a no-hitter with a ninth-inning homer in Toronto, who hit 33 home runs this season, delivered again.

The Mets have never celebrated a clinching victory at Citi Field, which opened in 2009. The team has not celebrated a playoff clincher at home since beating the San Francisco Giants in the 2000 NLDS. That changed Wednesday.

Jose Quintana didn’t allow a hit until Nick Castellanos doubled with one out in the fourth inning, which put runners at second and third with one out. Alec Bohm grounded to Vientos, who was playing in. The third baseman never fielded the ball cleanly and Bryce Harper slid home safely without a throw to give the Phillies a 1-0 lead.

Stat of the Game

Lindor’s grand slam was the second in Mets postseason history. Edgardo Alfonzo hit the other in Game 1 of the 1999 NLDS at Arizona. Lindor is only the third player in postseason history with more than one grand slam—Shane Victorino and Jim Thome have two, too.

Player of the Game

Lindor was 2-for-4 with a double and a grand slam for the ages. A shout-out to Quintana, too. His pitching line: five innings, one unearned run, two hits, two walks and six strikeouts. He hasn’t allowed an earned run in 11 playoff innings.

On Deck

Three well-deserved days off! The Mets will head to the West Coast for the LCS, which starts Sunday. San Diego or Los Angeles, TBD. What a team! What a season!

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