NEW YORK -- The NLCS is heading back to Los Angeles. Friday night at Citi Field, the Mets extended their season with a Game 5 win over the Dodgers (NY 12, LA 6). The Mets put up eight runs in the first three innings and rode mostly stout bullpen work the rest of the way. The Dodgers still lead the series 3-2, but the Mets are not going away quietly.
Remarkably, the Mets did not strike out a single time in Game 5. They scored 12 runs on 14 hits and five walks (and three hit batters), and sent 44 batters to the plate, but struck out zero times. The Mets are the first team to not strike out in a postseason game since the Angels in Game 2 of the 2002 World Series. The Halos sent 40 batters to the plate in that 11-10 win over the Giants.
Game 5 was only the third postseason game in the Expansion Era (since 1961) in which a team did not strike out. Here's the list:
| Team | Game | Final score | Plate appearances |
|---|---|---|---|
Mets | 2024 NLCS Game 5 vs. Dodgers | NY 12, LA 6 | 44 |
Angels | 2002 World Series vs. Giants | LAA 11, SF 10 | 40 |
1974 NLCS vs. Dodgers | LA 5, PIT 2 | 37 |
There were three zero-strikeout games in the 1960 World Series between the Yankees and Pirates, just to give you an idea how much times have changed. Game 5 was the 11th zero-strikeout game in postseason history.
The league average during the regular season was a strikeout in 22.4% of plate appearances this year, and it has hovered at that level for three years now. In the postseason, the strikeout rate has jumped to 23.4% as teams shorten up their pitching staffs and use their top relievers. The Mets had a perfectly league average 22.4% strikeout rate in 2024.
Send 44 batters to the plate and you would expect 10 strikeouts based on New York's regular season average. They instead struck out zero times. Jack Flaherty didn't have much and long man Brent Honeywell is not a bat-misser, so that contributed to the Mets not striking out, but credit to the hitters. They were relentless in a must-win game.
Game 6 will be played Sunday night at Dodger Stadium. A Dodgers win sends them to the World Series. A Mets win gives us a Game 7 on Monday.