The New York Mets are officially on the ropes after another dominant performance from the Los Angeles Dodgers in their 10-2 Game 4 win on Thursday. With the Dodgers holding a 3-1 series lead, on the cusp of advancing to their fourth World Series in the past eight seasons, the Mets could be down to their final 27 outs if they can’t summon the kind of offensive showing that won them Game 2 7-3. In the first four games of the series, Los Angeles outscored New York 30-9.
In Game 5, the Dodgers have Jack Flaherty on the mound, with the righty looking to continue his postseason success (1-1, 2.92 ERA, 8 SO, 12.1 IP). Meanwhile, the Mets are pinning their hopes on lefty David Peterson, who has been solid for New York in short outings this October (1-0, 2.08 ERA, 5 SO, 8.2 IP).
How to watch Dodgers vs. Mets NLCS Game 5 (LAD leads 3-1)
Time: 5:08 pm ET
Location: Citi Field | Queens, NY
TV channel: FS1
Streaming: Fox Sports App, Fubo
Follow along with live updates, highlights and more from Yahoo Sports:
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Brent Honeywell Jr. takes over mop-up duty for Flaherty in the fourth. He hits Pete Alonso with a 93 mph fastball on his second pitch.
There goes for a big opportunity for the Dodgers. Freddie Freeman works the count full, then Reed Garrett just catches the outside corner with a curveball to limit the damage in the fourth to Pages’ homer.
That could have been very bad for the Mets, but they are still up big in Game 5.
the Dodgers’ 35 walks are the most walks drawn in a 5-game postseason span
And then David Peterson walks Teoscar Hernandez to load the bases with two outs. The Mets pull him after 79 pitches (the first time he has thrown more than 50 since Sept. 29) and bring in Reed Garrett to face Freddie Freeman.
Shohei Ohtani follows with a bloop single and Mookie Betts with a walk. The Mets probably don’t want to let the Dodgers back in this game.
Some lively discussion after the homer as well. Might have something to do with Pages flipping his bat.
Mets 8, Dodgers 2
Andy Pages doesn’t care what the score is. The Dodgers rookie No. 9 hitter clubs a 418-foot homer to center field to cut the lead to six runs.
The third inning is over, with the Mets in full control after a five-run frame. The Dodgers offense scored more than eight runs yesterday, but they might just be ready to try to take this series at home.
Mets 8, Dodgers 1
One more from Brandon Nimmo. Considering how the Dodgers have approached every postseason game, it’s impossible to not interpret them keeping Flaherty in as a white flag.
Mets 7, Dodgers 1
Francisco Lindor follows with a stand-up triple. The Mets are 7-for-15 with four walks against Jack Flaherty after going 2-for-22 against him in Game 1.
Mets 6, Dodgers 1
Francisco Alvarez adds another, and it’s all Mets here at Citi Field. It looks like this series is going back to Los Angeles.
Anthony Banda was warming, but he has sat down in the bullpen. The Dodgers might just let Flaherty wear this, rather than work their bullpen with two elimination games likely on tap in Los Angeles.
Mets 5, Dodgers 1
This is getting bad in a hurry for the Dodgers. Starling Marte shoots a grounder down the third-base line and makes Flaherty pay for his two walks. Flaherty has faced 15 batters and allowed five hits, four walks and five runs.
Jack Flaherty has two swing-and-misses total through 14 batters. He allowed a leadoff walk to Pete Alonso in the third after going ahead 0-2 before Alonso held off two low curveballs and fouled off another well below the zone. Then Jesse Winker walks on four pitches.
Two on, none out for the Mets in third.
Simple enough inning for David Peterson in the top of the third — just one single from Tommy Edman.
He’s at 52 pitches through three innings, which is the most he has thrown in an appearance all postseason. He hasn’t thrown that many pitches since he was starting in the regular season.
Teoscar Hernández strikes out to open the third inning for the Dodgers.
Jack Flaherty works around the leadoff double to keep the second inning scoreless. In a must-win situation, the Dodgers might have already pulled him, but they might just want length from him at this point.
We’ll see what they do when he reaches the third time through the order, but his four-seamer velocity is down two ticks at 91.2 mph.
Lindor then comes a few feet short of the right-field fence. Ten batters in, Flaherty has allowed fly balls or line drives with exit velocities of 103.8 mph, 98.4 mph, 90.1 mph, 113.6 mph, 98.8 mph and 104.7 mph. That’s in addition to two walks.
And then Francisco Lindor comes a few degrees from clubbing a two-run homer down the right-field line. It flies just right of the foul pole, but this is some hard contact being allowed by Flaherty.
