LOS ANGELES — A soft bloop that plopped into the left-center field gap represented the Mets’ best chance.
Five of New York’s last six wins have been of the comeback variety, propelling what is already an unforgettable run. Every time it looked like their season was dead, they’ve been able to rally. And two hits to start the fifth inning, despite a six-run deficit, gave credibility to the thought that another miraculous moment was coming.
That hit came from José Iglesias. And it was placed perfectly to get Jesse Winker, who led off that inning with a hit of his own, to third base. But Winker inexplicably stopped in no-man’s land. Easy prey to be thrown out.
Two pitches later, the inning was over. Their chance was extinguished. A 9-0 Game 1 loss wrapped up a couple of hours later.
“It’s a long series and it’s one game, and we’ll keep pushing forward,” Winker said. “Obviously the base running play kind of takes the wind out of a potential rally. I think that’s what hurts the most.”
The last two weeks have been defined by resiliency. It’s a cliché this time of year, but this Mets’ run has transcended even the most cynical of eye-rollers.
Jesse Winker is tagged out by Max Muncy at third base in Game 1 of the NLCS. (Kiyoshi Mio / Imagn Images)
Whether it was Francisco Lindor’s two-run, ninth-inning home run to clinch the postseason on the final day of the season. Or Pete Alonso’s three-run shot in the final frame of a do-or-die game in Milwaukee. Or an NLDS-clinching grand slam from Lindor, this team has found a way.
They’ve found life in games where they were dead, over and over and over again. But this? This was the Mets’ first true dud in a very long time. And this listless effort has left the Mets down a game in this best-of-seven series.
“The guys were ready,” said Mets shortstop Lindor. “The bottom line is we didn’t play the game better than they did. They played the game better than us.”
New York eked just three singles and six total base runners on the night, none of which came around to score. They’ve now contributed nine of the MLB postseason record-tying 33 consecutive scoreless frames thrown by the Dodgers. A plurality of which were thrown by Jack Flaherty, who shut down the Mets for seven dominant innings.
There were moments when it looked like New York could break through. That aforementioned top of the fifth was one. Lindor and Alonso each drew a walk the inning prior, and Starling Marte cranked a 350-foot flyout to the warning track in right. It just didn’t have the distance.
The Mets and their fans have gotten used to those balls going over the wall. They’ve come to expect at least one hit like that a night. In this game, it never came.
“The energy is still here,” said Marte, echoing a sentiment shared by his teammates after the loss, which wasn’t going to erase the goodwill they’d established.
The good news for the Mets is that a miracle was far less pressing on Sunday night. The stakes are elevated in the NLCS. A World Series is on the line, and the Mets are eight wins away from their first championship in 38 years.
But, for the first time in weeks, the Mets have some room to fail. On the final day in Atlanta, they needed a win. Then they needed to take two of three against a 93-win Brewers team, on the road, to extend their season. Then they had a best-of-five series against a Phillies team that was the class of the NL East.
A loss to the Dodgers puts the Mets in a hole, but a seven-game series allows for a dud. A blowout like that, perhaps, makes it easier to flush. There was simply nothing they could do against Flaherty, who didn’t allow a ball to be hit harder than 101.7 miles per hour all evening.
“He tried to make us chase, which we did the first time through the order,” said Mets manager Carlos Mendoza. “Then he was just on. He was locating his pitches and he did a good job.”
The last time New York faced the Dodgers it was in May, and they were swept. That was the game where then-reliever Jorge López threw his glove into the stands in a backbreaking loss that put the Mets a season-worst 11 games below .500.
Soon after, Grimace would throw out the first pitch, Iglesias’ “OMG” would debut, and this team’s incredible run truly began.
Mets shortstop Francisco Lindor tags out Shohei Ohtani in an attempt to steal second base in the second inning. (Jayne Kamin-Oncea / Imagn Images)
It is not the same team that faced the Dodgers all those months ago. That was a club that wilted — as evidenced by the seven runs they allowed in the final two frames of that defeat. This is a group that doesn’t.
What the Mets showed on Sunday evening in Los Angeles looked a lot more like the old version of what has become a much better team. Not the club built on great pitching, timely hitting, and a slew of indelible playoff pumpkin-esque bits.
The Mets have made a habit of coming back when it appeared they could not. In-season, in-series, and in-game. And, after a disastrous opener, that’s exactly what they’ll need to do again.
(Top photo of Mets starting pitcher Kodai Senga: Jayne Kamin-Oncea / Imagn Images)