It was win or go home for the New York Mets on Friday night in Game 5 of the NLCS against the Los Angeles Dodgers. Knowing this team's fight, there was no way they'd be eliminated on home soil.
The Mets came out swinging it from the first pitch and ultimately won 12-6, forcing Game 6 back in Southern California on Sunday. While overcoming a 3-1 deficit is almost unheard of in the playoffs in any sport, New York is extremely confident they can win two more and knock out their National League rivals.
Via Bob Nightengale of USA Today:
“We are,” Edwin Diaz flatly said after getting the final six outs Friday, “going to win the next two games.”
“We can beat them. We can do this.”
It didn't stop there. Brandon Nimmo, Jesse Winker, and Francisco Lindor preached confidence in this group's abilities:
“Why not us?” Nimmo said. “We’ve been playing with our backs against the wall all year, and we’ve been able to rise to the occasion. Some might even say we’re at our best at that time.
“If any team can do it, we can do it.”
“We have a special lineup. We had a really good game plan tonight,” Winker said. “We had our backs pushed against the wall. We knew we had to something special. We know we’re going to have to continue to do some special stuff.
“And I believe we can do it.”
“We’re playing with a lot of confidence right now,’’ Lindor said. “We know what we’re capable of doing.’’
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The Mets have every reason to be holding their heads high for Game 6. Their ace, Sean Manaea, will be on the hill. He already tossed five dominant innings in Game 1, allowing just two earned runs while striking out seven LA hitters.
New York also made history on Friday, becoming the first team since the 2002 Los Angeles Angels to not strike out once in a playoff game. That's absolutely unheard of in today's game where most pitchers consistently pump 95+ mph fastballs.
We can't forget this is a ball club that had a horrible first half and was criticized heavily on a weekly basis. No one expected them to be fighting for a spot in the World Series. Winning two more games in a row?
Completely possible in the eyes of every single player on this roster. The Mets are resilient.
