Pete Alonso's three-run homer in the first inning set the tone as the New York Mets avoided elimination in the National League Championship Series with Friday's 12-6 Game 5 win over the Los Angeles Dodgers.
New York battered Dodgers' starter Jack Flaherty for eight runs through the first three innings to send the best-of-seven series back to Los Angeles for Sunday's Game 6. Starling Marte finished 4 for 5 and knocked in three runs to help keep the Mets alive, while Francisco Alvarez had a run-scoring single among his three hits.
Francisco Lindor and Jesse Winker each added two hits and had run-scoring triples for New York, which overcame a two-homer performance by Andy Pages that accounted for four of the Dodgers' runs.
Mookie Betts went 2 for 4 with a solo homer for the Dodgers, but Flaherty was unable to duplicate a stellar Game 1 effort in which he allowed just two hits over seven scoreless innings.
Los Angeles will now attempt to claim its second NL pennant in five years back home, though they'll have to face New York's Sean Manaea in Game 6. The left-hander is 2-0 with a 2.65 ERA in three starts this post-season and earned the win in Game 2 at Dodger Stadium.
The Mets got to Flaherty early in this one, as Lindor started the bottom of the first inning with a single and Brandon Nimmo followed with a walk. Two batters later, Alonso drove a pitch over the center field wall for a 3-0 lead.
Los Angeles got a run back in the second inning, but New York broke the game open with five runs off Flaherty in the third.
Alonso and Winker began the Mets' half of the inning with walks before Marte drove both runners home with a double. Marte later scored on Alvarez's two-out single that preceded Lindor's triple that extended the margin to 7-1.
Nimmo then capped the big inning by plating Lindor with a single.
Pages delivered his first homer of the game in the top of the fourth, but Winker tripled in Alonso in the bottom of the inning and scored on Jeff McNeil's sacrifice fly for a 10-2 New York lead.
The Dodgers got closer when Pages connected for a three-run homer off Reed Garrett in the fifth inning, and Betts' solo blast in the sixth trimmed the margin to 10-6.
New York would tack on another run in the bottom of the sixth, however, and Marte singled in Alonso in the eighth for more insurance.
Yankees score twice in ninth for 3-1 lead over Guardians in ALCS
New York's other team is now one win away from its first World Series appearance since 2009 after the Yankees scored twice in the ninth inning to pull out an 8-6 victory over the Cleveland Guardians in Game 4 of the ALCS.
The Yankees bounced back from Thursday's 7-5, 10-inning loss in Game 3 and from blowing a four-run lead in Game 4, as Cleveland scored three times in the seventh inning and once in the eighth to tie the game at 6-6.
Alex Verdugo and Gleyber Torres each knocked in runs off Cleveland All-Star closer Emmanuel Clase in the top of the ninth, however, before Tommy Kahnle held the Guardians scoreless in the bottom of the inning to give New York a 3-1 lead in the best-of-seven series.
The Yankees can close it out in Saturday's Game 5 in Cleveland behind Carlos Rodon, who beat the Guardians in Game 1 with six innings of one-run ball.
New York had built a 6-2 lead on three home runs - a two-run shot from Juan Soto in the first inning, a solo blast from Austin Wells in the second and Giancarlo Stanton's three-run shot in the sixth.
Josh Naylor had two hits and three runs batted in for the AL Central champion Guardians, while Jose Ramirez went 2 for 3 and knocked in two runs as both players keyed Cleveland's late rally.
The Guardians put two on to start the bottom of the seventh before Ramirez delivered a run-scoring double off reliever Clay Holmes to cut New York's lead to 6-3. Naylor followed with a double that brought in Steven Kwan and Ramirez and got Cleveland within one.
Naylor then led off the bottom of the eighth with a double off Mark Leiter Jr. and later scored on David Fry's infield hit that tied the game at 6-6.
The Yankees began the ninth with singles by Anthony RIzzo and Anthony Volpe off Clase, however. After Volpe stole second to put two in scoring position, Verdugo reached on a dribbler that Cleveland shortstop Brayan Rocchio mishandled for an error as the go-ahead run crossed the plate.
Torres followed with a single that scored Volpe for an 8-6 advantage.
The Guardians got their first run in the bottom of the first to counter Soto's two-run shot in the top of the inning. After Wells' homer in the second put New York up 3-1, Kwan singled in the third and later scored on a Naylor single to pull Cleveland closer.
Mets land Juan Soto on record $765M contract
Juan Soto has made his decision. He'll be staying in the same city, albeit with a new team.
Multiple outlets reported Sunday that the New York Mets have landed baseball's most coveted free agent with a massive 15-year, $765 million contract that ranks as the largest in professional sports history.
Soto chose the Mets over a handful of suitors that included the crosstown-rival New York Yankees, the team he spent the 2024 season with and helped reach the World Series.
The contract surpasses the 10-year, $700 million deal the Los Angeles Dodgers gave two-way superstar and 2024 National League MVP Shohei Ohtani last December as the largest ever in terms of overall value. And while the majority of Ohtani's guaranteed money was deferred, the Associated Press reports that Soto's agreement contains no deferments.
Soto's contract is also the longest in MLB history in terms of length, exceeding the 14-year, $340 million extension his former San Diego Padres team-mate, Fernando Tatis Jr., signed in 2021.
The New York Post reports that Soto's deal also includes an opt-out clause following the 2029 season, which would allow the four-time All-Star outfielder to re-enter the free-agent market at age 31.
The Yankees, who acquired Soto from the Padres a year ago in a seven-player trade that sent five players to San Diego, reportedly made a final offer of $760 million over 16 years, according to the Associated Press.
Soto was indisputably the crown jewel of this year's free-agent class as a 26-year-old who established himself as one of the game's premier offensive players ever since entering the majors at age 19 with the Washington Nationals in 2018. An exceptionally disclipined hitter, the Dominican native has drawn 125 or more walks in four straight seasons and his .421 career on-base percentage is the highest of any active player with at least 500 plate appearances.
The five-time Silver Slugger recipient also owns a career .285 batting average with a .953 OPS while compiling 201 home runs and 592 RBIs over seven MLB seasons.
Soto helped the Nationals to the franchise's lone World Series title in 2019 by hitting .282 with 34 homers and 110 RBIs in his second major league season. He spent four-plus seasons with Washington before being traded to the Padres midway through the 2022 campaign after turning out a reported 15-year, $440 million extension.
The Padres moved Soto to the Yankees prior to his final year before free agency in a deal that ended up aiding both teams, with the slugger playing a major role in the Bronx Bombers' run to their first World Series appearance since 2009.
Soto hit a career-high 41 homers in his lone season with the Yankees to go along with a .288 average and 109 RBIs in 157 games, and finished third in voting for the 2024 American League MVP award won by team-mate Aaron Judge.
The Mets have annually been among MLB's biggest spenders since owner Steve Cohen purchased the team in November 2020 and were already active in free agency this off-season. The team signed another former Yankee earlier this week by adding pitcher Clay Holmes on a three-year, $38 million contract and also reached a two-year, $34 million agreement with starting pitcher Frankie Montas.
Dodgers, left-hander Snell agree to 5-year, $182 million contract
In the latest installment of the rich get richer, the World Series champion Los Angeles Dodgers and left-hander Blake Snell are in agreement on a five-year, $182 million contract, pending a physical, according to a person with direct knowledge of the negotiations.
Snell, who turns 32 next month, is a two-time Cy Young Award winner who spent last season with the San Francisco Giants, going 5-3 with a 3.12 ERA in 20 starts.
He had a 6.31 ERA at the All-Star break after a limited spring training, but over his final 12 games, he posted a 1.45 ERA with 103 strikeouts in 68 1/3 innings, including a no-hitter at Cincinnati on Aug. 2.
Snell won the 2023 Cy Young while pitching for the San Diego Padres and entered free agency. He didn’t have a team by spring training, so he landed with the Giants on a two-year, $62 million contract with an opt-out after the first year, which he exercised.
Durability is a concern with Snell, who has thrown more than 129 1/3 innings just twice in nine major league seasons. He also has a lifetime 4.1 walks per nine innings average and rarely pitches deep into games with only one career complete game.
He becomes the latest addition to the star-studded Dodgers, who gave out the first mega deal of this offseason following Shohei Ohtani's $700 million, 10-year contract last winter.
Snell joins a rotation that already features Tyler Glasnow, Yoshinobu Yamamoto and Ohtani.
Ohtani, Judge both unanimous picks for MVP awards
Aaron Judge and Shohei Ohtani were both unanimously selected to win Most Valuable Player Awards in their respective leagues on Thursday.
Judge collected all 30 first-place votes from the Baseball Writers’ Association of America and Kansas City Royals shortstop Bobby Witt Jr. garnered all 30 second-place votes.
Yankees outfielder Juan Soto finished third with 21 third-place votes.
Ohtani was an unanimous MVP for the third time, receiving all 30 first-place votes and 420 points in voting by the BWAA. New York Mets shortstop Francisco Lindor was second with 263 points and Arizona second baseman Ketel Marte third with 229.
It is the second AL MVP award of Judge's career after he also won the award in 2022.
Judge led the major leagues with 58 homers, 144 RBIs and 133 walks while hitting .322. He also drew a league-high 133 walks and posted a spectacular 1.159 OPS.
Witt topped the big leagues with a .332 average, hitting 32 homers with 109 RBIs.
With two MVP Awards to his name, Judge is the seventh player in Yankees history to win multiple MVPs. He joins Lou Gehrig, Joe DiMaggio, Yogi Berra, Mickey Mantle, Roger Maris and Alex Rodriguez.
There was an extended stretch over the summer where Judge was on a pace to reach and possibly break his own single-season home run record (62 in 2022). The same goes for a bid at a Triple Crown.
The stretch that truly defined his season began on April 27. Judge entered play on that day in Milwaukee with a .178 batting average and .674 OPS on the season. He had only four home runs with 35 strikeouts across 27 games.
Over his next 100 games, through August 23, Judge hit .378 with 45 home runs. It was the first time in MLB history a player batted higher than .375 with 45-plus homers in a stretch of 100 games within a single season.
Ohtani was unanimously voted AL MVP in 2021 and 2023 as a two-way star for the Los Angeles Angels and finished second to Judge in 2022 voting. He didn’t pitch in 2024 following elbow surgery and signed a record $700 million, 10-year contract with the Los Angeles Dodgers last December.
Ohtani hit .310, stole 59 bases and led the NL with 54 homers and 130 RBIs exclusively as a designated hitter, becoming the first player with 50 or more homers and 50 or more stolen bases in a season. He helped the Dodgers to the World Series title, playing the final three games with a torn labrum in his left shoulder.
Ohtani is the first primary DH to win an MVP. He joins Frank Robinson for Cincinnati in 1961 and Baltimore in 1966 as the only players to win the MVP award in both leagues.
The Japanese sensation is the 12th player with three or more MVPs, joining Barry Bonds (seven) and Jimmie Foxx, Joe DiMaggio, Stan Musial, Roy Campanella, Yogi Berra, Mickey Mantle, Mike Schmidt, Alex Rodriguez, Albert Pujols and Mike Trout (three each).
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