The Albany Gazette - Mets advance on Lindor grand slam, Yankees and Tigers win

The Mets polished off a 3-1 triumph over the Phillies in the best-of-five division series, electrifying Citi Field with the kind of come-from-behind triumph that has become their signature.

The Mets had left the bases loaded in both the first and second innings as Philadelphia starting pitcher Ranger Suarez kept them scoreless through 4 1/3 gritty innings.

New York trailed 1-0 and had loaded the bases again with no outs in the sixth when Lindor came to the plate against Phillies reliever Carlos Estevez.

Lindor punched a 99 mph fastball 398 feet over the wall in center field, scoring Starling Marte, Tyrone Taylor and Francisco Alvarez.

Marte was hit by a pitch and Taylor had walked before Alvarez reached first on a fielder's choice.

“I was just trying to get a good pitch to hit and bring one run in and it worked out and went over the fence," Lindor told Fox television. "I wasn’t trying to be the guy.

"I was just trying to keep the momentum that the guys had.”

It was Lindor's first home run since he powered the Mets into the post-season with a go-ahead two-run blast against Atlanta in the ninth inning of the Mets' penultimate game of the regular season.

He joined Edgardo Alfonzo as the only Mets players to hit a post-season grand slam and the Mets booked their first NLCS appearance since 2015.

"We've got to just keep on climbing," Lindor said.

The Mets will play the winner of the NL division series between the San Diego Padres and Los Angeles Dodgers for a place in the World Series.

The Padres had a chance to finish off Shohei Ohtani and the Dodgers later Wednesday when they took a 2-1 series lead into their game in San Diego.

- Stanton powers Yankees -

The New York Yankees and the Detroit Tigers edged closer to advancing in the American League.

Giancarlo Stanton hit a game-winning solo home run in the eighth inning to lift the Yankees to a 3-2 victory over the Royals in Kansas City for a 2-1 lead in their AL division series.

Stanton drove in the game's first run with a double in the fourth inning. The Yankees took a 2-0 lead on Juan Soto's sacrifice fly in the fifth, but the Royals tied it up in the bottom of the frame.

Cue Stanton, who belted a pitch from left-handed relief pitcher Kris Bubic 417 feet to put the Yankees back in front.

"You've got to be ready for it," Stanton told broadcaster TBS. "You've got to want it."

"You're not always going to be successful, but you can't shy away from the big moment," added Stanton, who finished with three hits, drove in two runs and stole a base.

The Yankees will try to close out their series on Thursday, when the Tigers will try to eliminate the Cleveland Guardians.

Detroit's Riley Greene and Spencer Torkelson drove in runs for the Tigers in a 3-0 home victory over the Guardians that put the Tigers up 2-1 in their series.

"I like winning. We've got a chance tomorrow so let's go ahead and do it," Tigers catcher Jake Rogers said.

The Tigers, who missed the playoffs the past nine years, played their first post-season home game since 2014 before a record crowd of 44,885 as they seek their first AL Championship Series since 2013.

Detroit opened the scoring in the first inning when Parker Meadows singled then scored on Green's single.

Rogers delivered a double in the third and scored on Matt Vierling's sacrifice fly and Torkelson doubled in a run in the sixth.

(E.Taylor--TAG)