THIS DAY IN BASEBALL October 14: Mets 3B Mark Vientos’ grand slam wins 2024 NLCS Game 2

Among the many highlights of the Mets’ unlikely 2024 postseason run was winning Game 2 of the NLCS, when New York outslugged the Dodgers on this day in beisbol, October 14, 2024.

Down one game to none and desperately needing a shift in momentum and a win on the road, the Mets got it quickly courtesy of shortstop Francisco Lindor, who blasted a leadoff homer to get things going.

But it was third baseman Mark Vientos who put the game pretty much out of reach in the second inning with a grand slam that capped a five-run frame.

The final score was 7-3, as the Mets bullpen held the Dodgers back.

Vientos, born in Norwalk, Connecticut to a Nicaraguan mother and Dominican father, hit three home runs in the NLCS with seven RBI. In three 2024 postseason series he hit .327 with 18 hits in 13 games, 5 home runs, 14 RBI and 8 runs scored, but the Mets lost the pennant to the Dodgers.

Also on this day: In 1992’s NLCS, Francisco Cabrera’s pinch-hit single with two outs in Game 7 drove in the tying and winning runs as the Braves defeated the Pirates, 3-2, in a thrilling contest that ended with a play at the plate. Atlanta would go on to lose to the Blue Jays in the World Series.

In the 2017 ALCS, Astros second baseman Jose Altuve scored from first on a double by Carlos Correa off Yankees closer Aroldis Chapman in the bottom of the ninth. The walk-off hit gave Houston a 2-0 lead in a series they’d eventually win.

D. Benjamin Miller, CC0, via Wikimedia Commons, LatinoBaseball.com illustration