The New York Mets reached a low point in late May after losing three straight games at home to the Los Angeles Dodgers.
They dropped to a season-low 11 games under .500, getting outscored 18-5 in that series. The situation was highlighted by reliever Jorge López throwing his glove into the stands after being ejected and giving an unusual postgame interview. The team released him hours later.
Star shortstop Francisco Lindor called a meeting just for players, hoping to inspire a change in their fortunes.
And it worked.
Since June, the Mets have had the best record in Major League Baseball. They’ve also been performing well in the playoffs. “That’s when the guys got together and we started turning the corner,” rookie manager Carlos Mendoza said on Saturday.
After winning against the Milwaukee Brewers 2-1 in a best-of-three NL Wild Card Series, the Mets then defeated their rivals, the Philadelphia Phillies, 3-1 in a best-of-five Division Series.
Next, they face the National League Championship Series against the Dodgers, who won four out of six games against the Mets during the regular season and finished with the best record in baseball at 98-64. In April, New York won two of three games at Dodger Stadium, but they were outscored 18-15 in that series.
“They’re a completely different team than we saw,” Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said. “They’re playing considerably better. Lindor is back to being Frankie. They’ve just got a lot of confidence, so we’ve got to play good baseball. We have to come with the same intensity, focus, and energy that we had this last series.”
Jack Flaherty will pitch Game 1 for the Dodgers on Sunday against Kodai Senga.
“What they’ve been able to do in the second half, with their lineup, their pitching, their bullpen, it’s a good group, it’s a really good team, and it makes for a good series,” Flaherty said.
This will be the first time the Mets and Dodgers meet in the playoffs since 2015, and the first time they face each other in the NLCS since 1988, when the Dodgers went on to win the World Series.
“It’ll be fun, that’s for sure,” Mendoza said. “There’s going to be a lot of superstars on that field, two fan bases that are intense.”
