NEW YORK -- With the Mets in need of a timely knock, Pete Alonso dug deep on Friday at Citi Field.

Alonso crushed a three-run first-inning homer on Dodgers right-hander Jack Flaherty’s slider, which was 1.12 feet off the ground, the lowest pitch taken deep in the postseason since 2015. With the Mets facing elimination in Game 5 of the National League Championship Series, they jumped out to their first lead since the NLCS moved to Queens en route to a 12-6 win to force Game 6 in Los Angeles on Sunday night.

Here are the Statcast metrics on the tater:

• 1.12 feet pitch height (second lowest behind Daniel Murphy’s NLCS Game 2 tater in 2015 -- 893 postseason homers ago)
• Projected 432 feet (longest homer by a Met in the postseason since Statcast began tracking in 2015)
• 113.2 mph exit velocity (Mets' second-hardest hit in the postseason since 2015)

The clutch hit snapped the Mets’ 0-for-17 stretch with runners in scoring position and woke Alonso up from his slumber. The Polar Bear had been 2-for-15 with no extra-base hits, six strikeouts and three walks through the first four games of the series.

Alonso, a pending free agent who could be playing his final game in a Mets uniform at Citi Field, is tied with Mike Piazza for second in franchise history with five career postseason homers, behind only Murphy (seven). Three of those have come in elimination games -- most in club history.