NEW YORK— Citi Field has been revived.

When they trailed the Dodgers 3-1 in the NLCS on Friday night, Mets fans had a renewed energy — an energy that Francisco Alvarez helped fuel.

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The young Mets catcher broke out of a terrible postseason slump to go 3-for-4 with an RBI and a run scored in the 12-6 win over Los Angeles in Game 5. Alvarez has now reached base in five of his last six on bats, and he has four hits in the last two games.

Mets manager Carlos Mendoza said earlier this week that Alvarez was having trouble making good swing decisions at the plate because he was late with the fastball, something he appears to have corrected in his last few at-bats.

“I was ready for a fastball,” Alvarez said after the game. “I reacted early and that’s what I’ve been working on: being closer to the ball so you react quicker to the fastball and it doesn’t beat you. I see the ball better and therefore feel better at the plate.

Two days ago, fans called for Alvarez to be benched. It wasn’t a crazy request: After Game 3, his postseason slash line was .143/.167/.143 with 13 strikeouts. But in Friday’s must-win game, he proved himself worthy of a spot in the playoff lineup.

“I think the most important thing was to keep it simple,” Mendoza said. “Try not to swing too hard, and just be short on the ball, be on time, just relax really. When you’re going through a hard time, there’s a lot of people ringing in your ears: “You have to do this, you have to do that.” Especially at this time of year, the simpler, the better. And that’s what he did.”

Alvarez broke his slump and added some much-needed juice to an offense that has generally been stagnant over the past two games. In Games 3 and 4, the Mets stranded 33 runners on base and went 4-for-27 with runners in scoring position. In Game 5, they didn’t strike out once.

Mendoza defended his decision to remain in the lineup with Alvarez this week, saying, “He’ll come through for us.” It took until the twelfth game of the playoffs for that to happen, but it was the most important one yet (as each subsequent game continues to be).

The Mets live to see another day, returning to Los Angeles for Game 6 on Sunday in another must-win situation with Sean Manaea on the mound for New York.