Mets will have to out-hit Dodgers to finish comeback bid in NLCS

LOS ANGELES — The Mets like their chances of taking two straight from the Los Angeles Dodgers on their own home turf, but the key to beating them might be to out-hit them. With the way the Dodgers keep coming at the Mets, getting runners on against every single pitcher they throw out there, the Mets’ bats might have to stay hot.

If they can build on their 12-run performance in Game 5, they’ll have a shot against the Dodgers’ bullpen in Game 6. Starling Marte went 4-for-5 with three doubles, Pete Alonso had a huge three-run homer to open the game, Francisco Alvarez broke out of his slump and Jesse Winker proved to be the spark the Mets needed with a 2-for-3 performance that included an RBI triple.

Winker will remain the DH on Sunday at Dodger Stadium, with manager Carlos Mendoza opting to ride the hot bat and use J.D. Martinez off the bench.

“We don’t know who we’re facing — we know it’s a bullpen game,” Mendoza said Saturday. “We’ve still got to wait and see what we got here. There’s a good chance he’ll be in the lineup. DH, outfield, we’ll see how some of the guys are feeling too.”

The lineup changes Mendoza made for Game 5 were effective. He liked the at-bats by Jeff McNeil, who drove in two runs on sacrifice flies, and he liked the way the Mets stayed patient at the plate. They looked downright Dodger-esque with their swing decisions, striking out exactly zero times in 44 plate appearances. The last time a team avoided striking out in a postseason game was the Los Angeles Angels in 2002.

That Halos squad went on to win the World Series.

“You just try and keep doing the same thing that you’ve been doing,” said outfielder Brandon Nimmo. “You don’t make it bigger than it is. In my opinion, there is no keeping the momentum. When you go out there, it’s going to be 50-50, and you’ve got to go take it. And so the team that has [created momentum] early in all these games has done a really good job of keeping it. “We’ll see if we can do that in L.A. on Sunday.”

This series has been strange in that all five games have featured lopsided scores, which is rare for the postseason. But the Mets understand they have to keep up the aggression at the plate to succeed in Game 6.

However, the pitching is a different story.

Left-hander Sean Manaea was dominant over the first four innings of his Game 2 start in Los Angeles before losing steam. The bullpen circle of trust is down to about three relievers, closer Edwin Diaz and high-leverage right-handers Ryne Stanek and Reed Garrett, all of whom may not be available Sunday.

Right-hander Kodai Senga will once again be available out of the bullpen, but it’s unclear just how the Mets would like to use him.

“Guys will step up. We’ve done it the whole year,” Mendoza said. “There are going to be guys that are going to be in the game and we’re going to ask them to get three outs in high-leverage situations. And high-leverage in the playoffs — especially when you’re facing an elimination game — it could be in the third inning, so you’re not going to be relying on just two guys. We ask a lot of them. We saw it with Stanek yesterday, we saw it with Diaz…

“We’ll see how the game unfolds tomorrow. But, like I said, a lot of different people are going to get an opportunity to come big for us. And they will.”

Manaea is hoping to give the Mets more than five innings to spare the bullpen.

“I’ve been doing a lot of things in between just to recover and recoup from the last outing,” Manaea said. “I feel we’ve been able to do a really good job of that. And just going into tomorrow, I’m going to give it everything I’ve got and just feeling good with that.”

Of course, if the Mets can score 12 runs again, you have to like their chances. But they’ve been shut out twice in this series, so anything can happen. Maybe the series will stay weird, or maybe, like Mendoza said, guys will step up and put more doubt in the minds of the Dodgers.