QUEENS, NY — The New York Mets’ bats have cooled down with the October air, but manager Carlos Mendoza is remaining loyal to the group that trails the Los Angeles Dodgers 2-1 in the NLCS after getting shut out for the second time in three games following an 8-0 loss in Game 3 at Citi Field on Wednesday night.
“As of right now, I’m going to continue to ride our guys,” Mendoza said. “They got us here, and they’ll continue to step up.”
The big hit has been lacking, though, of late, even despite a 7-3 Game 2 victory in Los Angeles fueled by Mark Vientos’ second-inning grand slam.
Outside of that frame which featured three hits and five runs scored, the Mets have been limited to two runs on 14 hits in the other 25 innings of this series. In total, they have left 23 men on base while going 4-for-19 with men in scoring position.
Catcher Francisco Alvarez has been the focal point of those struggles. He left seven men on base during the Game 2 win that could have made it significantly easier for the Mets before leaving another three on in the second inning of Game 3. With one out and the bases loaded, he was caught looking — the first of three times on the night.
“I think offensively, he’s in between,” Mendoza said. “I think he’s late making his move which is not allowing him to make some good swing decisions. So that’s why you see him at times taking the fastball or late on the fastball and then chasing. That tells you right there that we have a guy that’s late getting ready.
“He’s a good hitter, he’s a good player. We’re facing an elite pitching staff as well. He’ll come through for us.”
When presented with the option of potentially giving Alvarez, who is 1-for-10 with five strikeouts in the NLCS, a day or two off in favor of backup catcher Luis Torrens, Mendoza quickly shut it down.
“Alvy’s playing tomorrow,” he said, alluding to Game 4.
The Mets will be facing Japanese phenom Yoshinobu Yamamoto, whose first season in the majors after making the jump to the United States was cut short due to injuries, on Thursday night at Citi Field. Still, the 26-year-old went 7-2 with a 3.00 ERA — another significant hurdle for a sputtering offense to try and clear.
With desperation lurking, lineup changes would be understandable.
Jose Iglesias struggled again in Game 3, including a rally-killing, inning-ending double play in the bottom of the sixth inning with two men on after the Mets fell behind 4-0 in the top of the frame. Brandon Nimmo, who is battling plantar fasciitis, is 1-for-10, and veteran DH JD Martinez struck out and walked twice in his series debut.
Against a righty like Yamamoto, introducing more lefties like Nimmo would normally be the call. Jesse Winker and Jeff McNeil are both options off the bench. But Yamamoto fares better against lefties, holding them to a .193 average and .526 OPS, than righties (.263 BA, .744 OPS).
Loyalty will prevail, at least for now, then.
“I would anticipate our righties to be in the lineup tomorrow,” Mendoza said. “Those guys that are in there got us to this point, and I’m pretty confident that they’ll come through.
“I’ll continue to take my chances with our guys. As long as we continue to create traffic, someone is going to come up and get the big one for us.”
