Starling Marte uses bat and voice to lift Mets

Starling Marte was loud with his bat in the National League Championship Series. The typically quiet outfielder also uses his voice.

In the Mets' 12-6 must-win win over the Dodgers in Game 5 at Citi Field on Friday, Marte went 4-for-5 with three doubles and three RBIs, becoming the first Met with three doubles in a playoff game. Game. He is 9-of-22 (.409/.435/.591) in the LCS and has hit in four straight games.

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“It feels good not only because I played a good game, but also because the team won,” he said of Alan Suriel. “I am the type of player who is in a good mood as long as the team is winning. I can play 0-for-5 and it doesn’t matter.”

Marte, 36 and a 13-year MLB veteran, may also have contributed to him turning 22 Francisco Alvarez on course. Alvarez was 5 of 35 this October before Marte had a conversation with him before Game 4.

“(Marte) comes to me and he tells me, ‘Hey, be happy. Play your game. “Don’t try to do too much,” Alvarez said before Game 4, adding that the pep talk was particularly meaningful because Marte was a man of few words.

“He doesn’t talk too much,” the catcher said. “I feel like he's speaking to me from the bottom of his heart, so I really appreciate him doing that. He never talks to me like that. Like he never says anything about it and he talked to me yesterday and I really liked what he said.”

In two games since then, Alvarez is 4 for 5 with a double and an RBI.

Marte said he also had a nice interaction with a fan between innings in Game 5.

“Usually every game I start throwing balls to the fans because I want them to be able to do that, I want these kids to be able to go home with a little memory,” Marte said. He threw a ball to a fan to give him a necklace.

“On my next attack, I got a hit there and kind of kept looking at it,” he said. “It was a very special moment.”