Jeff McNeil gets the start with the season on the line.
The Mets have announced their lineup for Game 5 of the NLCS against the Dodgers:
- Francisco Lindor – SS
- Brandon Nimmo – LF
- Mark Vientos – 3B
- Pete Alonso – 1B
- Jesse Winker – DH
- Starling Marte – RF
- Tyrone Taylor – CF
- Jeff McNeil – 2B
- Francisco Alvarez – C
SP: David Peterson
Of note, Jeff McNeil is getting his first start of the postseason after making it onto the NLCS roster. He has pinch hitting appearances in Games 1, 3, and 4, going 0-for-3 in those opportunities.
Jesse Winker is also back in the starting lineup as DH after pinch hitting for Alvarez last night. Winker came in with the bases loaded and drove one to the warning track in right that fell a few feet shy of being a Grand Slam (or at least a bases-clearing hit). He will take the place of J.D. Martinez, who continues to struggle. With the right-hander Jack Flaherty on the mound, Winker will also move up to fifth, ahead of Starling Marte, who has been moved down to the sixth spot in the lineup.
The Mets have also moved Nimmo up to the two hole and Vientos, who has been the team’s bet hitter this series, down to the third spot in the lineup. Tyrone Taylor, after not starting Game 4, is back in the lineup for Harrison Bader.