LOS ANGELES – The New York Mets flipped the Hollywood script on Monday and tied the National League Championship Series.

With six runs in the first two innings, the Mets came out swinging against the previously undefeated Los Angeles Dodgers, winning 7-3 in Game 2 at Dodger Stadium. Francisco Lindor homered in the first inning, Mark Vientos hit a grand slam in the second, and Sean Manaea pitched five excellent innings — before nearly losing it in the sixth — as the Mets evened the series at a game apiece heading into Game 3 on Wednesday. at Citiveld.

It was, except for a half-inning, a near-perfect reversal of Game 1 as the Dodgers took an early lead and then retired their opponent’s most dangerous hitters.

The Mets followed that path in Game 2. Lindor and Vientos were once again the tone-setter and game-changer for their offense, and Manaea raced through five innings before running into foul trouble in the sixth. The bullpen limited the damage and maintained the lead.

The Dodgers’ top five hitters, all All-Stars this season, went 0-for-19 with five walks and nine strikeouts, including Mookie Betts, Teoscar Hernández and Freddie Freeman in a row, to end the game. The top five Mets hitters had gone 0-for-17 with seven strikeouts in Game 1. They went 7-for-22 with six RBIs and five runs scored in Game 2.

Francisco Lindor set the tone for the Mets by starting the game with a home run. (Sean M. Haffey/Getty Images)

Mets show their resilience

After a listless loss in Game 1 that saw them play their worst game in weeks, the Mets wasted no time in bouncing back.

The Mets had done this so many times before. They often followed up brutal regular-season losses with inspiring victories. Their calling card in 2024 is resilience.

They tend to get back up.

The Mets needed to make a quick statement in Game 2 and it was no surprise when Lindor belted a tone-setting leadoff home run. After throwing a ball off his leg, Lindor stepped back into the batter’s box and hammered a cutter to cap an eight-pitch at-bat. There would be more two-strike hits, another major trend for the Mets this postseason. In the second inning, and trailing 0-2 in the count, Tyrone Taylor hit an RBI double. Later in the inning, on the ninth pitch he faced, Vientos continued his impressive streak with a grand slam to make it 6-0.

Given Kodai Senga’s brutal performance on Sunday, Manaea had to start strong. He did just that, opening his game with back-to-back strikeouts from Shohei Ohtani and Betts. The Mets started Senga on Sunday to give Manaea and Luis Severino (the Game 3 starter) an extra day of rest, given the veterans’ heavy workload. Manaea’s solid start showed why the Mets thought this was a wise move.

Answering back in their usual fashion, the Mets return to Citi Field looking to feature more of their starting pitching in the next two games.

The Dodgers bullpen play isn’t paying off

Going back to the well with a bullpen play in Game 2 made sense for the Dodgers. Their options made a bullpen game necessary in one of the games of this series, and it made sense to do it in Game 2 – after Jack Flaherty’s seven innings in Game 1 and with a day off on Tuesday.

Landon Knack gave up five runs in two innings as the Mets stormed out to a 6-0 lead. (Sean M. Haffey/Getty Images)

It didn’t fail in the first inning, even though Lindor opened the afternoon with a solo shot to cap an eight-pitch at-bat against Ryan Brasier and halt the Dodgers’ scoreless innings streak at 33. The big problem came next.

Instead of continuing to deploy high-leverage weapons as they did in Game 4 of the National League Division Series, the Dodgers opted to try to steal some innings up front with rookie Landon Knack. A five-run inning, capped by a grand slam by Vientos after an at-bat in which Knack left several pitches over the plate, sank the Dodgers early.

The Dodgers are missing a key leverage arm in Alex Vesia in this series, making it harder to count outs with strictly bullpen arms. It was always the plan to involve Knack in some way. But getting only two innings away made a 6-0 deficit all the more insurmountable against Sean Manaea.

Mets’ bullpen comes through at crucial times

The Mets’ two biggest bullpen acquisitions before the trade deadline were Phil Maton and Ryne Stanek, two right-handers who happen to be good friends. They were buy-low options; Maton had a 4.58 ERA with the Tampa Bay Rays, while Stanek seemed like the odd man out of the Seattle Mariners’ bullpen. In both deals, the Mets took money (and parted ways with a minor league outfielder in Stanek’s case) because they believed in both pitchers’ track records. The team thought both would help.

Fast forward to the NLCS and Stanek and Maton are in familiar spots. Late in games they are familiar installation options again. And on Monday, they both did their jobs when the Mets needed them most.

Maton inherited a bases-loaded jam in the sixth inning and took over for Manaea with no outs. He allowed a two-run single, but that was the extent of the damage. Stanek relieved Maton with one out and a runner on first base in the seventh inning. He struckout Betts and got Hernández to ground out to end the inning. Stanek then retired the side in the eighth inning before allowing a single and a walk. Edwin Díaz replaced him and made the final clean sheet.

The Mets don’t have any reliable bridge options to Díaz, who is shaky. They did a great job of covering up this blemish with a good starting roll. But there will be other games, like Monday, when the Mets don’t get as much length as they want. That’s when they have to lean on Stanek and Maton.

(Top photo of Mark Vientos’ grand slam: Kevork Djansezian / Getty Images))