The Celebration Is On At Citi Field As Mets Magical Ride Continues

 

The celebration lingered until well after an hour after the game ended at 8:23 p.m. Photo by Jason Schott.

The celebration was on at Citi Field after the Mets clinched the National League Division Series on Wednesday night with their 4-1 won over the Philadelphia Phillies. 

The Mets won the series three games to one, and since the game ended at 8:23 p.m., thousands of fans were able to hang around and take part in the celebration.

Lindor said of where this grand slam, which came in the sixth inning with the Mets trailing 1-0, ranks in his accomplished career, "Pretty high. Pretty high, because this is a home run to send us to a big place, you know, which is the National League Championship. So, yeah, it's hard to rank them from 1 to 10, but it's pretty high, for sure."

On his thought process through the grand slam, "I was just trying to get a good pitch in the zone. I felt like I got a good one early and I missed it. I was just trying to do what the other boys did. I was trying to do what the other boys did, which is get on base. They did an amazing job. So I was just trying to do that."

This massive home run came on the 25th anniversary of another one that clinched an NLDS, Todd Pratt's walk-off home run to beat Arizona, also in Game 4, in 1999.

Francisco Lindor waves to the fans as he and his teammates head back to the dugout on his grand slam. Photo by Jason Schott.

Mets Manager Carlos Mendoza was asked about his reaction to Lindor's big blast in the sixth inning, the latest big moment during their run the past 10 days, and he said, "I don't know how to describe it because there was a lot going through my mind, the feeling, the whole dugout, guys jumping up and down. And just because it was hard for us, you know? It was hard for us the whole year. And then today, perfect example, got runners on and we couldn't come up with a big hit until finally, who else? The MVP. I keep saying you could write a book. You could make a movie, because this is it right here. And then the whole time the inning is unfolding, Lindor is going to do it again. There's no panic. The way he controls the emotions and he hits that ball. It's unbelievable."

When the final out was made, the team eschewed the tradition of celebrating at the mound by racing to Lindor at shortstop.

The Mets raced in from the bullpen, and Edwin Diaz and Francisco Alvarez followed from the mound, to surround Francisco Lindor when they clinched. Photo by Jason Schott.

Lindor was asked how it feels to get the Mets to this point, even though it wasn't a straight line, and he said, "It feels amazing to be able to continue to move forward, like you said. It's been an uphill fight. It's been tough. But we're still not where we want to be. We've got to continue to stay the course, continue to learn day-in and day-out. This road, it's been, yeah, it's been curvy, but I wouldn't have it any other way."

Mets Manager Carlos Mendoza in his postgame press conference. Photo by Jason Schott.

The Mets got tremendous pitching in this one, as Jose Quintana lasted into the sixth and allowed one unearned run, Reid Garrett pitched 2/3 of an inning, and then David Peterson went 2 1/3 and earned the win before Edwin Diaz notched the save.

Mendoza said of the decision to go with his closer, "It was always going to be Diaz. He's the best in the league. And once Petey got through the eighth, it was Diaz's game. I had no doubt. Even after the two walks, I knew he was going to get it done, and he did. Here we are celebrating."

On if this celebration was different than the ones they've already had - when they clinched a playoff spot in Atlanta a week ago Monday and the Wild Card Series in Milwaukee last Thursday - Mendoza said, "A hundred percent, because we're doing it here at home in front of our fan base. I think this is the first time we get to celebrate here and get to clinch," referring to how this is the first Mets celebration of a playoff berth or series win at Citi Field, which opened in 2009.

Mendoza said of how this feels after a season that saw them start 0-5 and go on a surge from June on to make the playoffs, and now advance twice, "It's hard, man, because of what we've been through. We've been through a lot. And this is not it. We've got to continue to ride the wave. We've got to continue to believe. It was hard, and it's been hard. Nothing has been easy for us, nothing at all. And every team goes through it, every team is going to face adversity. 

"I've got to give credit to the players and the coaches and everybody in that building."

Thousands of fans hung around behind the Mets dugout to enjoy the celebration,. Photo by Jason Schott.

On the difference between them and the Phillies in this series, Mendoza said, "We had really good at-bats. That's a really good pitching staff there. And we were able to not only control the strike zone but put the ball in play when we needed to. They execute some really good pitches, and we were able to somehow put the ball in play and make things happen. 

"Then, defensively, we attack and then we expand, make them chase when we needed to. But when they were aggressive swing-wise, that's an aggressive team, and they're going to come at you hard in swinging. We didn't back down from it. Guys kept attacking, and I thought that was the key."