Mets' bats suddenly explode and put the pressure on Dodgers as NLCS heads back to LA

Slaying Grimace wasn’t going to happen on this day, in this house.

The Mets have been a case study in resiliency this year, whether it was rallying from 11 games under .500 in June or receiving a ninth-inning home run from Pete Alonso in Milwaukee to advance in the NL Wild Card Series, so ending this season with a whimper on Friday — without as much as a victory on home turf in the NLCS — wouldn’t have fit the script.

Cold bats thawed and tired relievers pieced together enough outs to rev up the Mets charter for a flight back to Southern California following a 12-6 victory over the Dodgers in Game 5 of the NLCS in front of 43,841 at Citi Field.

The Mets, down 3-2 in the series, will have Sean Manaea on five days of rest to start Game 6 on Sunday in Los Angeles.

The Dodgers have not announced their pitching plans.

“You look at the path of everything, it’s completely inexplicable but we’re all just happy to have another opportunity to fight another day,” Alonso said. “And we’ll be ready. We love opportunities. … Today was all about figure it out, get to Game 6. And we have that opportunity and it’s going to be the same mentality: Figure it out and get to Game 7.”

Alonso was an offensive hero on this day with an early three-run homer, but the entire lineup got involved against Jack Flaherty and the Dodgers bullpen.

Starling Marte was a ringleader, going 4-for-5 with three doubles and three RBIs as part of the team’s 14-hit attack.

The Mets had scored only nine runs combined in the first four games of the series, but easily surpassed that figure with Friday’s outburst.

Along the way, the Mets didn’t strike out.

“We’re capable of putting together games like this, especially when one through nine, we’re clicking, we’re not chasing,” manager Carlos Mendoza said. “We showed up today. We needed that.”

Edwin Diaz recorded the final six outs scoreless after the Mets received a strong relief outing from Ryne Stanek, who allowed only one run over 2 ¹/₃ innings.

“We have come from a lot of adversity and I think we can beat them,” Diaz said. “We can beat them. We have got Manaea going on Sunday and I like how we pitched last time against them. I like our team and we can make it.”

Alonso’s three-run homer in the first inning got the locomotive rolling.

The blast was Alonso’s fourth in this postseason and first in the NLCS.

Francisco Lindor singled leading off against Flaherty and Brandon Nimmo walked before Alonso jumped on a slider and cleared the fence in right-center.

Enrique Hernandez raced home on David Peterson’s wild pitch in the second inning to pull the Dodgers within 3-1.

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Peterson had escaped trouble the previous inning by getting three straight outs without a run scoring after Marte misplayed Mookie Betts’ line drive into a double, giving the Dodgers runners on second and third with nobody out.

“They could have had a couple of runs there in the first and we were able to get out of it,” Peterson said. “They kind of had some momentum going and be able to stop it and throw the momentum in our favor in the bottom of the first was big.”

The Mets seized control in the third, when they sent nine batters to the plate and scored five runs.

Marte smashed a two-run double after Alonso and Jesse Winker had walked in succession to begin the inning.

Francisco Alvarez stroked a two-out RBI single that extended the Mets lead to 6-1.

Before the inning was complete, Lindor tripled in a run and Nimmo singled in another, burying the Dodgers in an 8-1 hole.

Andy Pages homered with two outs in the fourth and Peterson loaded the bases before Reed Garrett entered and threw a sweeper for a called third strike on Freddie Freeman to end the inning.

Peterson, in his first start this postseason — after four relief appearances — lasted 3 ²/₃ innings and allowed two earned runs on six hits with four walks and three strikeouts.

The Mets returned to work in the bottom of the fourth: Winker stroked an RBI triple and Jeff McNeil brought in the team’s 10th run of the game with a sacrifice fly. Alonso started the inning by getting plunked.

Pages’ second homer of the game, a two-run shot against Garrett in the fifth, pulled the Dodgers within 10-5.

It was the last batter Garrett faced, as Mendoza signaled to the bullpen for Stanek.

Betts homered leading off the sixth against Stanek to pull the Dodgers within 10-6.

The blast was the second in as many games for Betts. But Stanek wasn’t touched for the rest of his outing.

“We just want to keep this thing alive, keep this thing going,” Alonso said. “It’s a really special team and just being able to celebrate with everybody, it’s just tremendous because it’s really an unbelievable group.”