Francisco Lindor hit a grand slam in the sixth inning, his latest clutch swing in an extraordinary season full of them, and the New York Mets reached the National League Championship Series with a 4-1 victory over the Philadelphia Phillies on Wednesday.
Edwin Díaz struck out Kyle Schwarber with two runners aboard to end it as New York finished off the rival Phillies in Game 4 of their best-of-five Division Series, winning 3-1 to wrap up a postseason series at home for the first time in 24 years.
“We’ve got to finish the job, and the job wasn’t finished at that moment,” said Lindor of the moments leading up to his grand slam. “I’m just blessed to be the guy that drove in runs today.”
His teammate José Quintana was a little more effusive. “This guy is amazing. He’s the MVP,” he said.
Immediately afterwards in a raucous clubhouse: the Mets’ first champagne-soaked clinching celebration in Citi Field’s 16-season history.
For the NL East champion Phillies, who won 95 games and finished six ahead of the wildcard Mets during the regular season, it was a bitter exit early in the playoffs and a disappointing step backward after they advanced to the 2022 World Series and then lost Games 6 and 7 of the 2023 NLCS at home to Arizona. After falling short again in October, Bryce Harper and the Phillies are still looking for the franchise’s third championship.
Perhaps overanxious at the plate with so much on the table, the Mets left the bases loaded in the first and second and stranded eight runners overall through the first five innings.
They put three runners on again in the sixth, this time with nobody out, before No 9 batter Francisco Alvarez grounded into a force at the plate against All-Star reliever Jeff Hoffman.
With the season on the line, Phillies manager Rob Thomson then summoned closer Carlos Estévez to face Lindor, who drove a 2-1 fastball clocked at 99 mph into Philadelphia’s bullpen in right-center, sending the sold-out crowd of 44,103 into a delirious, bouncing, throbbing frenzy.
Cleveland Guardians 0–3 Detroit Tigers
Riley Greene and Spencer Torkelson each drove in a run, and six pitchers combined to lift the Detroit Tigers to a 3-0 win over Cleveland Guardians and a 2-1 lead in their AL Division Series. The Tigers, baseball’s hottest team the past two months, will have their first chance to advance to the American League Championship Series since 2013 on Thursday night in Game 4 at Comerica Park. Cleveland have gone 20 straight innings without scoring since opening the series with a five-run first and a two-run sixth in their 7-0 win.