Pete Alonso golfed an early three-run homer and the New York Mets hammered an ineffective Jack Flaherty, extending the National League Championship Series with a 12-6 victory over the Los Angeles Dodgers in Game 5. Starling Marte had three doubles. Francisco Lindor had three RBIs as the Mets defeated the Dodgers to extend their season. With this win, the Mets are still in the competition, and they will head to Los Angeles for Game 6.
The Mets were dominant in the game, especially Alonso who made it clear what his team's intentions were with his three-run homer in the bottom of the first inning. The energy at the Citi Field was palpable as Alonso took the stage with a thrilling show. The right-handed pitcher Jack Flaherty had to endure the mess. It was a six-run second inning where his work was completely undone.
Though the Dodgers struggled to stop the bleeding, the star right fielder Mookie Betts tried to keep his team in the contest with his solo shot in the top of the fifth. By the time this happened, the damage had been done as the Mets continued to pour it on with a two-run double from Lindor in the sixth inning. Even in the losing effort, Justin Turner had a bases-clearing double for the Dodgers.
This loss gave the Dodgers their first back-to-back losses since August 9 and 10 at home to the Chicago Cubs. Their past two outings have shown some lackluster pitching, and Justin Verlander may be needed in relief for Game 6 in order to fix some of these recent issues. The road to the World Series finale just became even more difficult for the Dodgers.