For five innings Wednesday at Citi Field, the Mets applied relentless pressure on the Phillies. They walked. They threw punches. They did all the things that made them the National League’s best team in the second half of the season. Only the big blow did not come to them. Somehow, through everything, the Mets lost. Lindor hit a leadoff grand slam in the sixth inning of NL Division Series 4, leading the Mets to a 4-1 victory over the Phillies and a game in the NL Championship Series that begins Sunday in San Diego or Los Angeles. It was Lindor’s second career postseason grand slam and the latest triumph in an MVP-caliber season for the shortstop, who has carried the Mets since May. Lindor joined Edgardo Alfonzo in the 1999 NLDS as the only Mets team to hit a slam in the playoffs.

After stranding the bases loaded in the first and second innings, the Mets filled them again with no outs in the sixth. As Lindor strode to the plate with one out, the Phillies turned to their closer, Carlos Estévez, in one of the highest leverage positions of their season. Hunting for a fastball, Lindor found one at 99 mph in the outer half of the strike zone and pushed it over the right-center fence, as the 44,103 fans at Citi Field reached the bar. filter. “I was just trying to get a good pitch to hit and bring in a run and it worked and got over the fence,” Lindor said. “I’m not trying to be that guy. I just tried to maintain the momentum that the guys had.”