In this postseason, the New York Mets have stared down the brink of elimination exactly twice. The first time, it was the bat of Pete Alonso that socked a three-run homer to give them a win in the NL Wild Card over the Milwaukee Brewers.

As fate would have it, it would be a three-run homer off the bat of Alonso again that sparked the New York Mets to a 12-6 victory over the Los Angeles Dodgers to stay alive in the National League Championship Series – which now swings back to the west coast.

The Dodgers have gotten this far on their pitching and it was their pitching that let them down early in the game – with starter Jack Flaherty giving up eight runs in three innings.

Try as they might, the bats of Mookie Betts and Shohei Ohtani stayed consistent while Andy Pages had the game of his life – socking two home runs.

But the Mets bats were just too hot – finishing with 14 hits on 34 at-bats to force a Game 6 in Chavez Ravine.

THIS IS A DEVELOPING STORY. MORE TO FOLLOW.