Francisco Lindor's grand slam sends the Mets to the NLCS

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NEW YORK — Francisco Lindor hit a sixth-inning grand slam, his final swing in a remarkable season full of such games, and the New York Mets reached the National League Championship Series with a 4-1 victory over the Philadelphia Phillies on Wednesday.

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Edwin Diaz singled Kyle Schwarber with two runners on board to end it as New York finished off the rival Phillies in game four of their best-of-seven Division Series, winning 3-1 and ending the season's home streak for the first time at 24 years.

Immediately afterwards, in a raucous locker room, the Mets hosted the first champagne-soaked post-game celebration in Citi Field's 16-year history.

“This is something I've dreamed about,” outfielder Brandon Nimmo said in an interview with the clubhouse, shown on a giant video board in the center. “It took a long time. We really wanted this for our fans.”

After three days of rest, New York will open a best-of-seven NLCS on Sunday at either the San Diego Padres or the Los Angeles Dodgers. As of Wednesday night, San Diego had a 2-1 lead in the NLDS heading into game four.

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“Let this thing go!” Mets shortstop Pete Alonso told excited fans still in the stands as he jumped out of a clubhouse event to conduct an on-field interview wearing large goggles to protect his eyes. “I'm very proud of this group. We have overcome so much.”

For the NL East champion Phillies, who won 95 games in the regular season and finished six times ahead of the wild-card Mets, it was a bitter exit early in the playoffs and a disappointing step back after advancing to the 2022 World Series and then losing Games 6 and 7 of the NLCS 2023 at home against Arizona.

After failing again in October, Bryce Harper and the Phillies are still looking for a third championship for the franchise.

“We have a really great group. We got beat in a short run,” manager Rob Thomson said.

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Perhaps too nervous about the situation with so much on the table, the Mets left the bases loaded in the first and second innings against starter Ranger Suarez and stranded a total of eight runners in the first five innings.

They added three players again in the sixth, this time with no one, before No. 9 batter Francisco Alvarez got on base against All-Star reliever Jeff Hoffman.

With the season already decided, Thomson called closer Carlos Estevez to face Lindor, who hit a 150-mph 2-1 fastball into the Philadelphia bullpen into right center, giving New York a 4-1 lead and sending a sell-out . the crowd of 44,103 went into a delirious, jumping and pulsating frenzy.

With his first hit in these playoffs, Lindor joined Shane Victorino and Hall of Fame receiver Jim Thome as the only major league players to have two postseason grand slams. The star shortstop also connected with Cleveland at Yankee Stadium in Game 2 of the 2017 AL Division Series.

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Edgardo Alfonzo had the only postseason success in Mets history during the 1999 Division Series in Arizona.

Fans chanted “MVP! MVP!” when Lindor disappeared into the dugout and again when he took up defensive position in the seventh.

Tuesday's Game 3 was Lindor's first chance to play at Citi Field since Sept. 8 after missing time on the field with a back injury.

But few, if any, players have been as valuable to their team this year as Lindor, who provided a remarkable string of big hits and key contributions as the Mets rallied from a 24-35 start to their first NLCS since a World Series loss in 2015. Series to Kansas City.

His ninth-inning homer on September 11 in Toronto stopped Bowden Francis' try and gave the Mets a decisive victory, and his emphatic ninth-inning homer on September 30 in Atlanta clinched a postseason berth.

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Lindor also came back from a 1-2 deficit to tie the game with an eight-pitch start in the ninth against All-Star closer Devin Williams last week in Milwaukee, helping Alonso hit an emphatic homer that saved New York's season on the Wild Series clincher card.

Mets starter Jose Quintana didn't allow a earned run in more than five innings of two-hit ball, and David Peterson threw 2 1/3 scoreless innings to secure the win.

Diaz struck out his first two hits in the ninth, drawing groans from the stands, but he retired the next three – two on strikes – for the first postseason save of his career.

Apart from coming back late to win Game 2 at home, the Phillies scored their only run on an error by third baseman Mark Vientos in the fourth inning.

Hoffman suffered his second loss, the latest setback for a Philadelphia bullpen that had been out of action throughout the series.

“Part of it is execution and maybe part of it is knowing our guys,” Thomson said. “I don't know. But it should work both ways.”

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