The New York Mets defeated the Los Angeles Dodgers 12-6 on Friday afternoon in Game 5 of the National League Championship Series at Citi Field.

With the win, the Mets avoided elimination for another day. They now trail 3-2 in the best-of-seven series. The Dodgers are one win away from their first trip to the World Series since 2020.

The Mets had fourteen hits in the victory, including a big three-run home run by Pete Alonso, but they also did something we haven’t seen in baseball in 22 years.

Per Sarah Langs of MLB.com on social media:

the Mets become the first team to have no strikeouts in a postseason game since the Angels in Game 2 of the 2002 World Series

11th of this postseason instance overall and 3rd in the expansion era (1961)

Jack Flaherty and two other relievers for Los Angeles just couldn’t pass up bats on Friday. Flaherty lasted just three innings and gave up eight earned runs.

It sounds cliché, but just putting the ball in play has major benefits. In today’s baseball, teams will generally sacrifice contact for damage, but the Mets proved that doesn’t have to happen in this game. There was traffic on the bases all afternoon and they forced the Dodgers into action, which is a good recipe for success.

The two teams are off Saturday as they travel across the country for Game 6, which will be played Sunday night at 8:08 PM ET in Los Angeles.

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