The Los Angeles Dodgers dropped Game 5 of the National League Championship Series to the New York Mets, but Andy Pages did his best to carry the offense back into it.
Pages blasted his first career postseason home run in the fourth inning against David Peterson that cut the Dodgers’ deficit to six runs. The rookie smashed another home run, this time a three-run shot, in the fifth inning against Reed Garrett that made it a 10-5 game.
At just 23 years and 315 days old, Pages became the youngest player in Dodgers history with a multi-homer game in the postseason. Steve Garvey had the previous record of 25 years and 291 days old.
Pages also became the first rookie in Dodgers history to have a multi-home run game in the playoffs.
“It felt great,” Pages said through an interpreter. “I feel great about what I did at the plate. Obviously, I had a great game, but the team didn’t win, and that’s the only thing that I care about. We’ll be ready to go on Sunday.”
Pages has had an up and down first season with the Dodgers, which saw him put together a red-hot debut before cooling off and eventually being sent to Triple-A Oklahoma City. He returned to the Dodgers roster on Sept. 1 and solidified his spot on for the playoffs with a strong performance to close out the regular season.
Pages entered the postseason as a reserve for the club and did not have much playing time to start out, but with the injuries to Miguel Rojas, Freddie Freeman and Gavin Lux, Pages has seen more opportunities recently.
“The postseason is different,” Pages said. “Being able to get opportunities like this in the postseason is great, but I always stay at the ready. I’ve always been ready. Any time they call on me, I’ll be ready.”
The native of Havana, Cuba, is batting .286 with two home runs, four RBI and a 1.047 on-base plus slugging percentage in his 14 postseason at-bats, and he should continue to get more playing time moving forward. Pages’ next change will come in an important Game 6 against Sean Manaea.
“I expect him to be in there,” Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said. “He took great at-bats. So I think for us obviously seeing all their guys, it was a must-win for them.
“Getting those guys extended, Díaz in there for two innings, all that stuff certainly matters. But obviously, with Andy, his game allowed for Peterson to go a little bit shorter, which was great.”
Andy Pages confident ahead of Game 6
The last time the Dodgers faced Manaea in Game 2 of the NLCS, he was highly effective and it led to the Mets earning a win that tied the series. But fresh off a two-homer game, Pages has more confidence and believes he has made the adjustments necessary to have success.
“Yeah, things didn’t go well for me last time,” Pages said. “He didn’t make a lot of mistakes, but this time around we’ll see what he’s able to do against me.”
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