LOS ANGELES — New York Mets third baseman Mark Vientos, standing in the on-deck circle Monday afternoon, watched Los Angeles Dodgers manager Dave Roberts put up four fingers, and his eyes immediately started filling with rage.
Sure, first base was open.
And yes, Francisco Lindor, the likely MVP runner-up, was at the plate.
Still, Vientos thought – dude, are you really going to load the bases to get to me in the second inning?
Didn’t the Dodgers know that Vientos just hit .563 with two homers and five RBI in the Mets’ four-game division series against the Philadelphia Phillies?
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And didn’t they know that while he may be in his first full season, he has the confidence of a 10-time All-Star?
“I took it personal,’ Vientos said. “I use it as motivation. I’m like, ‘Alright, you want me up, I’m going to show you.”
Vientos stepped to the plate and nine grueling pitches later, he jumped on Landon Knack’s 95-mph fastball.
“I hit a bomb,’ Vientos said.
Grand slam.
The first of Vientos’ career.
And the Mets had their first victory of the National League Championship Series, 7-3, over the Dodgers, in front of a stunned sellout crowd of 52,926 at Dodger Stadium.
The NLCS is now tied at 1-game apiece, with the next three at Citi Field in New York, where the Mets have played only two games in the last three weeks in their magical tour of the country.
“I want to go home,’ Vientos said. “Playing in front of the New York fans is the best. I’m excited to get back.’
The Mets boarded their plane, feeling rejuvenated once again, brimming with confidence, and believing their mojo is back.
They may still be the heavy underdog in the series. They don’t have three MVPs in their lineup. They didn’t spend $1.4 billion in free-agent acquisitions. And the best player in baseball, Shohei Ohtani. is on the other side.
Yet, they also know they completely shut down Ohtani on Monday, with starter Sean Manaea keeping him hitless, striking him out twice.
“I don’t think you’ve seen Ohtani look that way too often,’ Mets Manager Carlos Mendoza said.
Mookie Betts struck out three times. Freddie Freeman went 0-for-4.
The Mets even proved that the Dodgers suddenly-vaunted pitching staff can be vulnerable, ending the team’s record-tying 33-inning postseason with Lindor’s leadoff home run. They produced 10 hits and every player in their starting lineup got on base at least once.
It’s almost as if the Mets took it personally, too, listening to critics speculating Sunday night whether the Dodgers would sweep the series after a 9-0 blowout in Game 1.
“None of us are living in the past,’ Lindor said. “So, I think that’s something that’s helped us, not to stay in the past, but to stay in the present. Stay in the moment, stay the course and keep climbing.
“Nobody was really thinking about what happened.’
So there wasn’t too much pressure to win Game 2?
“There’s always pressure right?’ Lindor said. “Pressure is a blessing. I’d be lying to you if I say, ‘I have no pressure.’ You have pressure playing the game in this type of environment, playing this game this late in the season, there is pressure. You just have to stay within yourself, go out, and execute.’
Vientos, 24, optioned five times to the minors since his 2022 debut, and wasn’t called up to stay until May 15, knows all about pressure. He felt pressure every single day just to stay in the big leagues.
So when Knack intentionally walked Lindor, Vientos didn’t feel it. He just knew it was an opportunity to once again prove everyone wrong.
You want Vientos at the plate?
Now you got him.
“That’s the one thing that Mark doesn’t lack,’ Lindor said, “and that’s confidence. He’s a very confident baseball player. He believes in himself. …
“That’s who he is. I’m glad he took it personal.’
It looked like the tactic would work when Knack got ahead of Vientos on a 1-2 count. But Vientos stayed alive against Knack’s sliders, fouling off five pitches.
Knack, getting frustrated, tried to fool him by throwing a fastball.
He left it smack over the middle of the plate.
And Vientos sent it smack out over the middle of the right-center-field fence.
“I wasn’t going to miss it,’ Vientos said.
The crowd gasped. Knack groaned. And the Mets bench erupted.
They went up 6-0, and never looked back.
“That didn’t surprise me because ever since he got here,’ said Mets winning pitcher Sean Manaea, who gave up two hits in five innings, “he’s been doing some crazy things.’
Vientos, who hit .266 with 27 homers and 71 RBI despite his late arrival, believes he’s just getting started. He’s hitting .378 with three homers, 11 RBI and a 1.086 OPS this postseason. He is just one shy of the franchise record for RBI in a postseason with at least three playoff games remaining – and potentially a whole bunch more.
He struck out three times in the Mets’ Game 1 loss but didn’t lose his confidence, listening to the advice and soaking in the knowledge of veterans J.D. Martinez and Lindor.
“I’ve been a sponge around all these guys, all these guys with experience, All-Stars,’ Vientos said. “I’m very fortunate. I ask a lot of questions. I ask them, especially in times like this, just like, ‘Hey, how do I go about this?’
“I know J.D., he won a World Series, and he kind of like brings the guys together. He tells us just to keep our emotions even-keeled, especially if the opponent goes up and we’re down, or vice versa. We want to stay even-keeled throughout the whole game because the team that keeps their emotions the best are the ones that come out on top.
“So, I feel like that’s what I’ve been focused on.’
Really, it’s the Mets’ mantra.
They were 11 games under .500 in early June. They didn’t make the playoffs until Lindor’s game-winning home run the last day of the season. They were down 2-0 in the ninth inning of the final game in their wild-card series against the Milwaukee Brewers when Pete Alonso hit a game-winning, three-run homer.
And they were bludgeoned in Game 1 of this series, facing a pitching staff that had tied a major-league record with its 33 consecutive shutout innings.
“We’ve done that the whole year,’ Mendoza said. “We get punched in the face, and we continue to find ways to get back up.
“And it will continue to be that way.’’
Anyone want to doubt them now?
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