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    • The Mets' Mark Vientos makes the Dodgers pay with a grand slam in NLCS Game 2
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    The Mets' Mark Vientos makes the Dodgers pay with a grand slam in NLCS Game 2

    Kathleen William Posted on

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    LOS ANGELES — New York Mets third baseman Mark Vientos stood in a circle on the deck Monday afternoon and watched Los Angeles Dodgers manager Dave Roberts raise four fingers, his eyes immediately filling with anger.

    Sure, first base was open.

    And yes, Francisco Lindor, the likely MVP runner-up, was there.

    Still, thought Vientos – dude, is that you? Really Will you load the bases to catch me in the second inning?

    Didn't the Dodgers know that Vientos just hit .563 with two home runs and five RBI in the Mets' four-game division series against the Philadelphia Phillies?

    And didn't they know that even though he's in his first full season, he has the confidence of a 10-time All-Star?

    “I took it personally,” Vientos said. “I use it as motivation. I'm like, 'Okay, if you want me, I'll show you.'”

    Vientos stepped to the plate and jumped on Landon Knack's 95 mph fastball nine grueling throws later.

    “I hit a bomb,” Vientos said.

    Grand Slam.

    The first in Vientos' career.

    And the Mets earned their first National League Championship Series victory, 7-3, over the Dodgers before a sellout crowd of 52,926 at Dodger Stadium.

    The NLCS is now tied at one game apiece, with the next three games being played at Citi Field in New York, where the Mets have played just two games in the final three weeks of their magical cross-country tour.

    “I want to go home,” Vientos said. “Playing in front of the New York fans is the best. I’m looking forward to coming back.”

    The Mets boarded their plane feeling rejuvenated, confident and believing their mojo had returned.

    They could still be the strong underdog of the series. They don't have three MVPs on their roster. They didn't spend $1.4 billion acquiring free agents. And the best baseball player, Shohei Ohtani. is on the other side.

    But they also know that they kept Ohtani completely out of action on Monday, as starter Sean Manaea kept him scoreless and struck him out twice.

    “I don’t think you’ve seen Ohtani that much,” Mets manager Carlos Mendoza said.

    Mookie Betts struck out three times. Freddie Freeman went 0-4.

    The Mets even proved that the Dodgers' suddenly vaunted pitching staff can be vulnerable, ending the team's record-setting 33-inning postseason with Lindor's leadoff home run. They scored 10 hits and every player in their starting lineup was on base at least once.

    It's almost as if the Mets were taking it personally, too, listening to critics speculate Sunday night about whether the Dodgers would win the series after a 9-0 win in Game 1.

    “None of us live in the past,” Lindor said. “I think that helped us not to stay in the past, but in the present. Stay in the moment, stay the course and keep climbing.” .

    “Nobody really thought about what happened.”

    So the pressure to win Game 2 wasn't too great?

    “There's always pressure, right?” Lindor said. “Pressure is a blessing. I would be lying to you if I said, 'I don't have any pressure.' There's pressure when you play the game in an environment like that, when you play this game so late in the season. You just have to stay with yourself, go out there and take action.”

    The 24-year-old Vientos, who has been optioned to the minors five times since making his debut in 2022 and was only called up to stay on May 15, knows all about pressure. He felt the pressure to stay in the big leagues every day.

    When Knack intentionally accompanied Lindor, Vientos didn't feel it. He just knew it was an opportunity to prove everyone wrong once again.

    Do you want Vientos on your plate?

    Now you have it.

    “That’s the one thing Mark doesn’t lack,” Lindor said, “and that’s confidence. He is a very confident baseball player. He believes in himself…

    “That's him. I'm glad he took it personally.

    It seemed like the tactic was working as Knack beat Vientos 1-2. But Vientos stayed alive against Knack's slider and fouled five shots.

    Knack was frustrated and tried to fool him by throwing a fastball.

    He left it right in the middle of the plate.

    And Vientos sent the ball over the right midfield fence.

    “I didn’t want to miss this,” Vientos said.

    The crowd gasped. Knack groaned. And the Mets bench erupted.

    They took a 6-0 lead and never looked back.

    “That didn't surprise me because since he's been here,” said Mets winning pitcher Sean Manaea, who gave up two hits in five innings, “he's done some crazy things.”

    Vientos, who hit .266 with 27 home runs and 71 RBI despite his late arrival, believes he's just getting started. He is batting .378 with three home runs, 11 RBI and an OPS of 1.086 this postseason. He's one step shy of the franchise record for RBI in a postseason with at least three playoff games remaining – and possibly a lot more.

    Even when he struck out three times in the Mets' Game 1 loss, he never lost his confidence, listening to advice and soaking up the wisdom of veterans JD Martinez and Lindor.

    “I was like a sponge to all these guys, all these guys with experience, All-Stars,” Vientos said. “I'm very lucky. I ask a lot of questions. I just ask them, especially in times like this, “Hey, how do I do this?”

    “I know JD, he won a World Series and he kind of brings the guys together. He asks us to keep our emotions in balance, especially when the opponent is on top and we are on the bottom or vice versa. We want to stay balanced throughout the game because the team that keeps its emotions best is the one that comes out on top at the end.

    “So I feel like that’s what I’ve been focused on.”

    In fact, it's the Mets' mantra.

    By early June, they were 11 games under .500. Only Lindor's game-winning home run on the final day of the season made it into the playoffs. They were trailing 2-0 in the ninth inning of the final game of their wild-card series against the Milwaukee Brewers when Pete Alonso hit a game-winning three-run home run.

    And they were crushed in the first game of that series, facing a pitching staff that had set a major league record by pitching 33 consecutive shutout innings.

    “We’ve done that all year,” Mendoza said. “We get punched in the face and always find ways to get back up.”

    “And it will continue to be that way.”

    Now does anyone want to doubt that?

    Follow Nightengale on X: @Bnightengale

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    Kathleen William
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