Mets Rally Back to Even NLCS with Grand Slam from Vientos
LOS ANGELES — It all unfolded in a heartbeat, a subtle twitch of Mark Vientos’ eyebrow beneath his sunglasses as he grasped the Dodgers’ choice. They opted to avoid facing Francisco Lindor, preferring instead to have Landon Knack pitch to Vientos in a pivotal moment. “All right, you want me up?” Vientos reflected on his mindset. “I’m gonna show you.”
“There’s one thing that Mark doesn’t lack, and that’s confidence,” Lindor remarked with a chuckle. “That’s just who he is. I’m glad he took it personally.”
It takes a unique kind of self-assurance to interpret the Dodgers’ decision—opting for a less seasoned pitcher to face you, rather than their apparent MVP who had already homered earlier in the game—as a slight. But you don’t step into the big leagues at the tender age of 22, dubbing yourself “Swaggy V,” without that precise level of bravado. And on Monday night in Game 2 of the NLCS, Vientos showcased that self-belief, just as he has consistently done throughout the season.
Vientos’ second-inning grand slam became the cornerstone of the Mets’ impressive 7-3 victory over the Dodgers at Chavez Ravine. After suffering a defeat at the hands of Los Angeles the day before, the Mets struck back to level the series. Game 3 is set to take place in Queens on Wednesday night.
At this juncture, it’s hardly shocking to witness the Mets bounce back as quickly as they did on Monday. Resilience is the lifeblood of this team, and their faith in their ability to recover has only intensified as the season has progressed.
However, belief—much like currency—requires a solid foundation to support it. The Mets’ confidence has often been bolstered by the caliber of their at-bats, their meticulous approach to pitch recognition, controlling counts, and capitalizing on mistakes in critical moments.
This conviction is rooted in key at-bats like those of Lindor and Vientos on Monday.
Vientos’ at-bat against Knack was a defining moment early in the game. Following Lindor’s leadoff homer, the Mets had managed to add another run against Knack in the second inning. Yet, after Francisco Alvarez popped up with two runners in scoring position, the Dodgers stood just one out away from keeping the game close.
Given his reaction to Lindor’s free pass, one might have expected Vientos to be particularly aggressive against Knack. However, his growing sense of composure was evident from the outset, as he adeptly let Knack’s strike-to-ball slider pass to begin the at-bat. “He understands that he’s not bigger than the moment,” Lindor noted regarding Vientos’ approach. “He’s just got to be part of the moment.”
Vientos battled through two fouled-off sliders to even the count at 1-2, then managed to foul back a hard fastball that was elevated above the strike zone. Vientos typically hunts fastballs: Over half of his home runs this season came off heaters, and his slugging percentage was an impressive .670 when he made contact with four-seam fastballs like Knack’s.
Thus, when Knack fell behind 1-2, he opted to throw four consecutive sliders—two in the dirt that Vientos wisely laid off, and two that he fouled off. By the eighth pitch of the at-bat, Knack resorted to a fastball on the outside corner, but it was delivered right down the middle. “I didn’t think he was going to give me a fastball,” Vientos shared. “My approach was to see a heater up, but I wasn’t expecting it. I thought I was going to get a slider and just poke it in the hole.”
But when he saw that fastball? “Yeah, I wasn’t going to miss it.”
Vientos launched the ball 391 feet the opposite way, putting the Mets ahead 6-0.
“The deeper you get into the at-bat, you’ve got more information,” Lindor explained.
“You only have so many tricks,” said reliever Ryne Stanek, discussing the pitcher’s perspective on extended at-bats. “It makes the at-bat substantially harder when you’ve exposed everything you’ve got.”
Vientos is continuing to back up a breakout regular season with an outstanding postseason performance: Through nine games, he boasts a .378 batting average, three home runs, and an impressive 1.086 OPS. (10/86? That was a remarkable month for the Mets.)
“He’s growing up,” Lindor observed. “He’s been doing special things this whole year,” starter Sean Manaea added. “He’s risen to every occasion.”
Lindor himself had set a precedent for that at-bat just an inning earlier, leading off the game. Against Ryan Brasier, Lindor fouled off two fastballs and two sliders before, on the eighth pitch, Brasier turned to his third-best pitch: a cutter that he had thrown only 12 percent of the time this season.
That cutter, too, found its way right down the center. Lindor sent it sailing into the Mets bullpen, thereby halting Los Angeles’ remarkable 33-inning scoreless streak.
“It just kickstarts everything,” Manaea said. “It’s a new day; it’s a new game. You can’t really start off any better way.”
“(It was big) not just because of the homer but the way he attacked him,” manager Carlos Mendoza commented. “He fouled off a couple of pitches, laid off a couple of breaking balls, and got a pitch to drive, setting the tone.”
The Mets maintained their disciplined approach throughout the game, working lengthy plate appearances. Jesse Winker helped ignite the rally in the second with a seven-pitch walk. Tyrone Taylor produced a run despite being behind in the count 0-2. Pete Alonso had a 10-pitch at-bat, even though it concluded with a strikeout.
Now, as the series moves back to Queens, it has shifted to a best-of-five format, with home-field advantage now resting with the Mets. “We get punched in the face and we continue to find ways to get back up,” Mendoza remarked. “And it will continue to be that way.”
(Photo of Mark Vientos: Kevork Djansezian / Getty Images)