The Mets' aggressive bullpen strategy paid off against dangerous Dodgers

Pushed to the sidelines, the Mets moved their best backup players to the sidelines.

On a night when David Peterson contributed the best 3²/₃ inning, two-run effort the Mets had ever seen, they were given the task of putting together the following 5¹/₃ innings.

They survived – an appropriate word for the NLCS Game 5 win – by demanding multiple innings from Edwin Diaz and a marathon from Ryne Stanek in a 12-6 victory over the Dodgers at Citi Field.

The Mets, up eight runs after four innings, played the elimination game as if there was no tomorrow because of the Dodgers' hitting power, even if the score was unbalanced.

The mission of bringing the series back to Los Angeles at all costs was accomplished.

“These guys are crazy, man,” Jesse Winker said. “You are ready. They’re willing to get in and get out, and they’re savages.”

The first Wild was Reed Garrett, who did well to escape a bases-loaded two-out jam given to him by Peterson by striking out Freddie Freeman, but he was hit in the next inning.

A plunk and a walk brought in Andy Pages, who hit his second home run of the game to bring the Dodgers to 10-5.

Essentially relying on two big-armed relievers that he trusted for the final 13 outs, manager Carlos Mendoza asked two big-armed relievers for 13 outs.

“Today was the day we had to get going,” Diaz said of himself and Stanek. “He was ready. I talked to him in the bullpen and he told me, “I'll be ready to go six outs, seven outs, nine outs if they need me.”

They needed him.

Stanek came in and knocked down Shohei Ohtani.

He returned in the sixth inning and gave Mookie Betts a solo hit, but nothing more.

For the first time since his rookie season in 2017, Stanek said he was asked for a third “up” — a third work frame.

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“Right now it's just a situation where you're trying to empty the tank and get them,” said Stanek, a power righty who recorded seven outs in a major league game for the first time.

He pitched a flawless seventh inning and clapped his hands when Gavin Lux came up for the final out after his 31st pitch of the night.

Once his job was done, it was Diaz's turn to push himself to the limit.

In a game the Mets won by five runs, Mendoza called for six outs from Diaz starting in the eighth – a length he reached only twice in the regular season and now once in the postseason.

In the 1-2-3 frame, he scored through Shohei Ohtani, who hit an elevated fastball.

Diaz was efficient in the ninth, allowing only an infield single from Tommy Edman and needing just 23 pitches to record his six outs.

The Mets could exhale and their most trusted arms in the bullpen could get some treatment.

When asked how he felt physically, Stanek laughed.

“Great,” he managed. “We won, so it’s great.”