The Mets got seven scoreless innings from Tylor Megill and a two-run blast from Francisco Lindor, but the bullpen again failed to hold the narrow lead in a 5-2 extra-inning loss to the Dodgers in the first game of Tuesday’s straight doubleheader at Citi Field.
New York falls to 22-31 on the season.
Here are the takeaways…
- Megill through his first nine innings on the season had allowed six hits in 14 at-bats with two outs. Naturally, with two down in the first inning, Freddie Freeman rocketed a single (106.6 mph off the bat) into right field, but was left stranded there.
Tyrone Taylor nearly made a sensational play to start the top of the second, leaping to rob a deep shot off Teoscar Hernandez's bat, but the centerfielder couldn’t squeeze the ball in his glove as he reached high over the wall to bring back the homer. He did save a run as the ball fell on the warning track and Hernandez had to settle for a double. Megill bounced back and stranded the leadoff batter there to keep the game scoreless.
The Mets right-hander allowed a one-out Mookie Betts single in the third and decided that was enough for the visitors batters. Megill retired 14 of the next 15 batters, allowing just a four-pitch walk in the fifth, including six of his nine strikeouts on the day.
His final line: 7.0 innings, three hits, one walk, nine strikeouts on 98 pitches (65 strikes). And other than the two-out Freeman single, kept the Dodgers to 1-for-8 with two down.
- Lindor put the Mets up 2-0 with one down in the third with a two-run home run to right field. It was a hanging 1-2 curveball from Dodgers starter Tyler Glasnow that got a lot of the middle of the zone and Lindor didn’t miss it, driving it 103.4 mph off the bat and 396 feet for his eighth homer of the year (first since May 10) and sixth with two strikes.
- Adam Ottavino, not Edwin Diaz, got the call for the save with the Mets up a run in the ninth and things did not go to plan. With a good piece of hitting by Hernandez grounded a base hit to right and then went from first to third on Gavin Lux’s line drive to right center.
The game was tied when Chris Taylor's first-pitch bunt was popped in the air but just got under the glove of a lunging Ottavino for a base hit and put runners on first and second with nobody out in the ninth.
But Ottavino got Jason Heyward swinging and Andy Pages to hit one sharply but right at Lindor who this time started a 6-4-3 inning-ending double play.
- Pete Alonso got his second hit of the day – and the Mets’ first since his third-inning single – to start the home half of the ninth off the Dodgers' Daniel Hudson. After Brandon Nimmo went down swinging, J.D. Martinez singled up the middle and Harrison Bader worked a walk to load the bases for Taylor and one down.
But Taylor, who got ahead 3-0 before taking two straight strikes, popped out to short. Jeff McNeil then fell behind 0-2 and popped out to second to send the game to extra innings.
- Jorge Lopez got the tenth and Betts put the Dodgers up 3-2 on the first pitch he threw with a single right up the middle scoring the automatic runner from second. The righty got Shohei Ohtani swinging – he finished the day 0-for-5 – but Freeman lined one 109.0 mph to right for a two-run homer and a 5-2 lead.
In the home half of the tenth, Brett Baty went down swinging, Tomas Nido hit a lazy fly to right and Lindor struck out for the fourth time of the day to end the game.
- The beginning of the end of the Mets' chances started in the eighth. Reed Garrett allowed a leadoff single to right and appeared to get Pages to hit into a 4-6-3 double play, but Lindor couldn’t get the ball out of his glove to throw to first. No matter for Garrett who got Betts to ground a hot shot to third for another potential double-play ball, but Baty dropped the ball as he started to throw to second and everybody was safe.
Lefty Jake Diekman got the call to face Ohtani, hitless in three at-bats to that point, who pounded a 2-2 fastball into the ground to short, but the Mets again couldn’t turn two as the fast Ohtani just beat out Lindor's throw to first to keep the inning alive. Freeman capitalized by shooting an RBI single to left and putting the tying run at second base.
But Diekman slammed the door to strand two runners getting Will Smith swinging on a high fastball.
- After the Lindor homer in the third, the Mets got a little something cooking on Glasnow when Alonso singled up the middle and Nimmo walked for the second time of the day. But Martinez, a strikeout victim in the first, bounced into a room service 6-4-3 double play to end their first true threat of the game. And it was the only threat the Mets had until the ninth.
And despite dishing out four free passes early, the Dodgers right-hander had plenty of bite on his breaking pitches (eight whiffs from 13 swings on his slider) and zip on his fastball (averaging 96.3 mph), and thanks to a pair of double play balls and eight strikeouts he kept the Mets to just two runs on two hits through six innings.
And that helped the Dodgers stay in the game as their batters continued to struggle against Megill – they’ve scored just 11 runs in their last five games, all losses.
Starting with the Martinez twin killing, Glasnow retired 12 out of the final 13 batters he faced, notching four strikeouts in the process. His final line: 7.0 innings, two hits, two runs, four walks, eight strikeouts on 92 pitches (56 strikes)
- In the first inning, Alonso went down looking after home plate umpire Jeremy Riggs gave Glasnow generous strike calls on sinkers just off the outside corner on 3-1 and 3-2 offerings. Manager Carlos Mendoza was shown offering his two cents on the calls.
Mendoza’s ire was up again in the second when Taylor was called out on strikes on a fastball that appeared well below the zone.
Highlights
MVP of the Game: Freddie Freeman
Freeman not only picked up three hits but he also punctuated the Dodgers' comeback with his two-run shot in the 10th.
What's next
These two teams are right back in action again for Game 2 of the straight doubleheader on Tuesday.
LHP Jose Quintana (1-4, 5.13 ERA) gets the ball against RHP Gavin Stone (4-2, 3.60 ERA).
