Mark Vientos, Mets Land Reality Check Counterpunch on Dodgers, More NLCS Takeaways

The 2024 MLB postseason has been a dandy so far, and the schedule for Monday was liable to leave one tingling with excitement.

Not one, but two Championship Series games.

The day started with Game 2 of the National League Championship Series between the New York Mets and Los Angeles Dodgers, which began as a rout before turning into a nail-biter.

The day will conclude with Game 1 of the American League Championship Series between the Cleveland Guardians and New York Yankees.

We'll have reactions for all four teams involved in Monday's slate, split into Glass Half Full and Glass Half Empty takes for each.

We've also given both series a temperature check.

Read on to see what's what.

NLCS Game 2: New York Mets at Los Angeles Dodgers ALCS Game 1: Cleveland Guardians at New York Yankees That Wasn't the Mets' Real Offense in Game 1 The Mets had the third-highest scoring offense in MLB from June 12 through the end of the regular season.

They also went into the NLCS as the highest-scoring team of the playoffs.

That offense didn't show up for Game 1 on Sunday.

It did for Game 2 on Monday.

Leave it to Francisco Lindor, who seems to have an endless supply of big hits in his back pocket, to get things started with a leadoff home run .

Yet it was Mark Vientos who effectively delivered the knockout punch via a grand slam in the second inning: Now, this .

This right here is a better representation of where the Mets offense is at right now.

It's not perfect, but it's now averaging 5.0 runs per game in the playoffs.

That is actually slightly better than the 4.7 runs per game it posted during the regular season.

So despite what the Dodgers may have thought after Game 1, in the way of this offense is still a bad place to be.

Sean Manaea Lived Up to His Newfound Billing Line Score: 5.0 IP, 2 H, 3 R, 2 ER, 4 BB, 7 K The folks at MLB.com spit out what seemed like a hot take on Saturday: After Gerrit Cole, Manaea is the best starting pitcher left standing in the playoffs.

Then again, would anyone care to argue with this right now? Manaea was hot to finish the regular season, posting a 3.09 ERA over his last 12 starts.

Now he's improbably hotter in the playoffs.

After three starts, his ERA is 2.12 and he's punched out 17 against four walks in 17 innings.

The Mets ought to have utmost confidence in the lefty no matter who he's up against, but especially when he's up against Johnny Wholestaff like he was on Monday.

And outside of Jack Flaherty and Yoshinobu, Mr.

Wholestaff is the Dodgers' only option for starting games.

The Dodgers could thus be disadvantaged all over again the next time Manaea starts in this series.

Unless he goes on three days' rest in Game 5 on Friday, that will likely be in Game 6 on Sunday.

The Defense Is Really Going Through It Right Now Having a good offense and good starting pitching? Yeah, that's a good recipe for playing deep into October.

It's too bad, then, about the Mets defense.

It was already having a rough go of things before Game 2, having committed five errors in the club's first eight playoff contests.

The troubles continued on Monday, and particularly in the sixth inning.

An error by Jose Iglesias allowed the Dodgers to load the bases, and Pete Alonso frankly should have been able to field a ground ball that resulted in a two-run single .

Even a double play that eventually got the Mets out of the inning featured a bobble by Vientos and a wide throw to first by Iglesias.

That shoddy defense didn't doom the Mets in Game 2 is the good news.

That it very well could have and certainly remains a threat going forward is, of course, the obligatory bad news.

The Scoreless Streak Temporarily Covered Up Their Biggest Weakness The Dodgers made history in Game 1 of the NLCS on Sunday, using three pitchers to run their scoreless streak to a record-tying 33 innings.

Impressive? No doubt.

But somewhat misleading? That, too.

As much as that scoreless streak would imply that the Dodgers have a limitless supply of unhittable pitchers, their guys are, in fact, human.

That truth quickly revealed itself on Monday, as the Mets scored six of their seven runs in the first two innings against an opener (Ryan Brasier) and his relief (Landon Knack).

There won't be a miracle solution to this shortcoming.

Tyler Glasnow, Clayton Kershaw and Gavin Stone are out with injuries, and even functional starters Jack Flaherty, Yoshinobu Yamamoto and Walker Buehler came into the playoffs with significant questions.

The San Diego Padres initially exploited this weakness, getting to Dodgers pitchers for five runs in each of the first three games of the NLDS.

They ultimately went too cold to finish the job, but the Mets proved on Monday that the job itself is still active.

Shohei Ohtani Has a Hidden Slump Among the many amazing stats to be pulled from Ohtani's regular season is this one: He had the exact same OPS with men on as he did with the bases empty.

But in the playoffs, this is happening: Ohtani's swing rate with the bases empty is elevated a little in the playoffs, so anyone who would assume that he's pressing isn't necessarily wrong.

If Dodgers manager Dave Roberts wants to force the issue with getting Ohtani out of this slump, he could always return to the lineup he was using earlier in the year, when he batted second behind Mookie Betts.

Or, he could remain patient and trust his superstar to figure things out.

Call it a hunch, but that is probably the way to go.

Good for You, Brent Honeywell Line Score: 3.0 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 1 BB, 2 K As much as anyone, Honeywell can claim credit for how Game 2 didn't get away from the Dodgers even after they spotted the Mets a 6-0 lead.

He entered the game in the top of the fifth and experienced minimal trouble as he shut the Mets down over the next three innings.

He got his fastball up to 97 mph and had some good action on his slider.

The fact that Honeywell is pitching in any capacity is a heck of a story.

He was an elite prospect back in the day, but his major league debut was ultimately delayed by four arm surgeries .

In all, he's played for 20 teams in 10 years.

As for whether there's more where this came from, let's agree to say "maybe." Though Honeywell wasn't a big piece for the Dodgers in the regular season, he did finish the year with scoreless appearances in four of the last five instances that he was asked to go multiple innings.

Should Roberts need multiple scoreless innings from a reliever again in this series, you wonder if he'll call on Honeywell before he calls on Knack, who was knocked for five runs in two innings on Monday.

The Dodgers didn't merely get hot in the three games leading up to Game 2 of the NLCS.

They got so hot that they might as well have run unopposed.

Between Games 4 and 5 of the NLDS and Game 1 of the NLCS , there was exactly one moment when the Dodgers' chances of winning slipped below 50 percent: When Shohei Ohtani struck out against Dylan Cease leading off NLDS Game 4.

Times like that are fun when they last.

But in this game, they inevitably have to end.

That is what happened to the Dodgers on Monday, and the Mets lived up to a certain habit in doing the deed.

Game 1 was merely the latest instance when their bubble seemed ready to burst, and Game 2 was likewise merely the latest instance of them blowing it back up.

They weren't dead yet when they trailed Atlanta in the ninth inning of Game 161.

They weren't dead yet when the Milwaukee Brewers had them down to their last three outs in the Wild Card Series.

And they weren't dead yet when the Philadelphia Phillies took a lead in Game 4 of the NLDS.

On the beat goes, and now they get to carry it back to New York for the next three games of the series.

Between the regular season and the postseason, the Mets are 48-35 when they play host at Citi Field.

In other words, the momentum is on their side now..

This article has been shared from the original article on bleacherreport, here is the link to the original article.