For five-plus innings Wednesday, the sellout crowd at Citi Field waited patiently for a chance to explode, and Francisco Lindor finally delivered.
A swing.
Four runs.
Hello, National League Championship Series.
Linder’s mighty bat delivered a sixth-inning grand slam that helped knock the Phillies off 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 the Dodgers starting Sunday in Game 1 of the NLCS. The Padres opened the night with a 2-1 lead in the best-of-five series against the Dodgers.
Edwin Diaz added the punctuation mark by striking out Kyle Schwarber for the final out after walking two batters in the ninth. Diaz’s teammates rushed from the dugout and fireworks exploded above the ballpark.
After an early threat — loading the bases twice without scoring — the Mets rallied again in the sixth. J.T. Martinez singled against Jeff Hoffman, Starling Marte was hit by a pitch and Tyrone Taylor walked. After Francisco Alvarez hit a grounder that was a force-out at the plate, Phillies manager Rob Thompson inserted reliever Carlos Esteves.
Lindor went up 2-1 in the count before launching a 99-mph ball over the fence in right-center to start the countdown party. Nine outs later, the Mets hit Citi Field’s first home clincher in 16 seasons.
Linder’s latest dramatic blast was his ninth-inning homer in Atlanta on Sept. 30 in the first game of a doubleheader that helped the Mets win the postseason.
The Phillies were the NL East champions, but that title cost them exactly one playoff win. Entering the postseason as the 6th wild card, the Mets needed a win on the final day of the regular season to reach the playoffs. They won two of three games to win the NL wild card series in Milwaukee.
Reid Garrett, David Peterson and Diaz combined for four scoreless innings behind a great start by Jose Quintana.
The Phillies managed just one unearned run against Quintana over five innings. The left-hander allowed just two hits and two walks and one hit batter with six strikeouts before departing on 90 pitches, allowing a leadoff double to Bryce Harper in the sixth.
The Mets got one out in the first inning against Ranger Suarez, but were unable to capitalize as Jose Iglesias and Martinez struck out consecutive uncontested at-bats.
Suarez ran into trouble in the second when Mark Vientos’ two-out single loaded the bases. But despite throwing 57 pitches over two innings, left-hander Brandon Nimmo was retired to escape the game still scoreless.
Pete Alonso continued the Mets’ parade of base runners, drawing a leadoff walk in the third, but after Iglesias struck out, Martinez hit an inning-ending double play.
Quintana led off the fourth, walking Harper and giving Nick Castellanos a double. Alec Bohm hit a slow grounder that Vientos intended to throw home, but fumbled. Harper scored the first run of the game, but Quintana escaped further trouble by retiring JD Realmudo and Bryson Stott.
Quintana struck out Schwarber with two outs in the fifth, but recovered to strike out Trey Turner and keep the Mets’ deficit at one run.
The Mets stranded two extra runners in the top of the fifth. Lindor doubled in the inning and Viandos struck out, ending Suarez’s outing. Hoffman struck out Nimmo and Alonso before retiring Iglesias, raising 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 one batter before Peterson retired Stott for the final out.
