Andy Pages and Brent Honeywell are big in the Dodgers' NLCS Game 5 loss

The list of Dodgers center fielders to hit two home runs in a postseason game was not long. It featured one player, Hall of Famer Duke Snider, the former Brooklyn Dodgers star who hit a home run twice in Game 6 of the 1952 World Series and Game 5 of the 1955 World Series against the New York Yankees.

That list doubled Friday night when Andy Pages, a 23-year-old rookie from Cuba, hit a solo home run in the fourth inning and a three-run shot in the fifth, both to left-center field, one of two bright spots for the Dodgers a 12-6 loss to the New York Mets in Game 5 of the National League Championship Series at Citi Field.

Pages, who was demoted to Triple-A Oklahoma City in August and had one hit and four strikeouts in his first 10 playoff at-bats, also had a single in the second inning, a three-hit, four-RBI effort that the Dodgers failed to capitalize on, but could be significant when the series returns to Los Angeles for Game 6 on Sunday night.

The Mets' Game 6 starter will be Sean Manaea, a left-hander with a flippy sidearm delivery and a six-pitch mix who held the Dodgers to two earned runs and two hits, seven strikeouts and four walks in five innings of New York , limited 7-3 win in Game 2 at Dodger Stadium last Monday.

The right-handed hitting Pages hit .248 with an on-base plus slugging percentage of .712, 13 home runs and 46 RBIs in 116 games this season, but against lefties he hit .357 with an OPS of .917. He struck out twice against Manaea in Game 2, but manager Dave Roberts said Pages would be back in center field for Game 6.

“We need a guy that kills lefties, and that's what he and Tommy (Edman) did,” second baseman Gavin Lux said. “I think Pages is one of the best hitters in the game against lefties. It’s valuable for him to continue to do that, to show good shots against good weapons.”

Pages hit a single to right-center off Mets left-hander David Peterson in the second inning and crushed Peterson's first-pitch sinker for a home run in the fourth inning, the ball leaving his bat at 107.2 mph and traveling 418 feet .

Pages faced right-hander Reed Garrett in the fifth and drove a 1-and-1 cut fastball to the inside half of the plate 376 feet for a three-run home run, cutting the Mets' lead to 10-5. Pages prevailed in the eighth round against closer Edwin Diaz.

“I feel good about my performance, but the result wasn't what we wanted, so I'll move on now and try to do my best on Sunday,” Pages said through an interpreter. “Last time Manaea made a good pitch. Things didn't go my way, but he didn't miss a single pitch. We’ll see if he doesn’t miss his spots again on Sunday.”

The other bright spot was long reliever Brent Honeywell, who replaced struggling starter Jack Flaherty early in the fourth inning and covered 4 ⅔ innings, leaving all six of the team's top relievers — Blake Treinen, Michael Kopech, Evan Phillips, Ryan Brasier, Daniel Hudson and – saved left-hander Anthony Banda, who faced a batter in the eighth – for Sunday's bullpen game.

“I'm not doing it for me, I'm doing it for these people here,” Honeywell said. “I love these guys. I love Doc. I love everyone here. I told (Roberts) in the dugout, 'This is my game until it's gone.' And I tried to keep us in the game.

“We had a chance to win. I felt like we got the corner a little bit and fought off here. We knew they were going to fight tonight, it's playoff baseball. The series is 3-2. I have to save the dogs.”

Honeywell allowed four runs and six hits during his 67-pitch outing, including two in the fourth, one in the sixth and one in the eighth. That prevented the Dodgers from getting closer, but Roberts praised the reliever as he came to the mound to remove him in the eighth and again after that.

“It's not always fun when you're going through it, especially from my spot,” Roberts said of the challenge of knowing when to use his higher-order relievers after falling behind by seven runs after three innings. “You have to be steadfast in the use of your pitchers because at the end of the day it’s about winning four games in a seven-game series.

“With our leverage players, mainly Blake and Evan, it just wasn’t responsible to turn to them at that point in the game. So Honeywell did a fantastic job of bailing everyone out and knowing there was a bullpen game coming up.”

The game left Honeywell with a bittersweet taste in the mouth. He didn't hit that well, and the Dodgers lost the game and the momentum they had built in lopsided wins in Games 3 and 4. But he did something that could help his team overall.

“That’s what a seven-game series is all about, what playoff baseball is all about,” Honeywell said. “There is a job here for everyone, every single one of us. Tonight wasn’t our night, but anything I can do to help us is what I want to do.”