Steve Webb
CHAVEZ RAVINE, CA — Wow. In a game full of twists, turns, goats, and heroes, the Dodgers game up one hit short in this one. In the final game of the homestand, the Dodgers got off to an early lead, only to see it evaporate in the eighth inning, only to storm back to tie the game with two out in the bottom of the ninth, only to lose it in extra innings when the top of the order couldn’t deliver a clutch hit. They dropped the game to the Mets 5-4, but if this series is any measure of the level of competition between these two teams, it ought to be an interesting October indeed.
Trea puts the Dodgers up early
Trea Turner‘s 26-game hitting streak was broken up on Saturday, but he waisted no time getting back on track on Sunday. After Freddie Freeman hit a one-out double, Turner pulled a ball over the left field fence to stake the Dodgers to an early 2-0 lead. However, after that first inning, Mets starter Trevor Williams shut down the Dodgers for the rest of his five innings. And, when Starling Marte dinged Dodger starter Julio Urias for a solo shot in the third, the game went into the later innings with the Dodgers clinging to that 2-1 lead.
Other than the Marte home run, Urias was solid in this one, although a bit inefficient. He needed 91 pitches to get through 5.1 innings and walked three Mets along the way. However, he made the pitches he needed to and settled in nicely to finish his outing on a high note. His line for the day: 5.1 IP, 3 H, 1 ER, 5 K.
Bullpen coughs up the lead in the 8th
Sunday is the kind of day when Dodger fans miss Blake Treinen. Instead of Treinen and his nasty stuff to take on the heart of the Mets lineup in the top of the 8th, skipper Dave Roberts had to turn to Brusdar Graterol, who was already coming of the worst appearance of his season on Saturday. Sunday didn’t go much better, I’m afraid. With a one-run lead, the Bazooka gave up back-to-back doubles to Lindor and Alonso to tie up the game before recording an out. When that first out came, it was a ground ball to the right side that pushed the runner to second. And, when the second out came, it was a sacrifice fly off the bat of Eduardo Escobar to give the Mets a 4-3 lead.
Things didn’t get much better when Alex Vesia came in after that. He walked Luis Guillorme on five pitches, which moved Mark Canha (who’d been plunked by Graterol) into scoring position. After that, it only took a single from Tomas Nido to give the Mets a run of insurance going into the bottom of the 8th.
Closers sharp late in regulation
Mets manager Buck Showalter was playing for the win, and went to his closer Edwin Diaz in the bottom of the eighth to face the top of the Dodgers’ batting order. The move worked, as Diaz threw a 1-2-3 inning against Betts, Freeman, and Trea, no easy task.
However, the ninth inning was a completely different story. Craig Kimbrel looked dominant against the heart of the Mets’ lineup, and quickly sent the game into the bottom of the ninth.
Dodgers rally to tie in the 9th
The Dodgers weren’t done in this one, though. Will Smith greeted new reliever Seth Lugo with a solo home run to the opposite field to cut the deficit to just one run. However, after two quick ground outs from Justin Tuner and Cody Bellinger, it looked like the Dodgers might be done for in this one. And, when Chris Taylor hit a potential game-tying home run a couple of feet foul, it really looked like it wasn’t meant to be their day.
However, Taylor rallied at the plate after getting a second strike. He watched three Lugo pitches sail wide, and fouled off two more before he got the pitch he was looking for. He ripped a curveball down the left field line that was fair this time, and by the time Jeff McNeil had retrieved the ball from the corner, Taylor was on second with a double.
Up came the newest Dodger Eddie Alvarez, called up from OKC due to injuries to Max Muncy, Edwin Rios, and Kevin Pillar. Alvarez already has a hit as a Dodger under his belt, but now he would deliver perhaps one of the biggest hits of his career. He smacked the first pitch he saw from Lugo back up the box and into centerfield, allowing Taylor to score the tying run easily from second. However, after Gavin Lux hit a sharp line out to right, the inning was over, and the Dodgers were headed into extra innings for the fourth time in 2022.
I. Hate. Ghost. Runners.
And, natch, the extra inning was a big fat bummer for the Dodgers. JD Davis hit a double to left to score Pete Alonso from second in the top of the tenth, and the Dodgers went into the bottom of the inning needing to get back that gifted run to stay even.
It seemed to be lined up perfectly. Speedy Gavin Lux was the designated runner on second, and the top of the order was coming up against inexperienced reliever Adonis Medina. However, it was a bit of a dud. Mookie Betts flied out to shallow right and didn’t advance the runner. Freddie Freeman pushed Lux over to third but grounded out for the second out. Trea Turner reached on a catcher’s interference call and stole second to put the winning run in scoring position. However, ninth-inning hero Will Smith couldn’t do it twice in a row. Smitty got behind early and struck out on a pitch out of the zone to end the game. Final score 5-4 Mets.
Day off and then off to Chicago
So, the feared “31 games in 30” days is over. How did the Dodgers fare? Well, not bad. They went 19-12, but lost five of the last seven at home. So it was plenty fine, but maybe they ran out of gas a little bit toward the end. Hopefully, they’ll enjoy their evening off tomorrow, and come back refreshed when they lock horns with the White Sox.
This will be the first time to play the Southsiders in five years, so it will be interesting to see how both of these potential playoff teams measure up. It will be another Mitch White start on Tuesday, and then back to Tony Gonsolin and Tyler Anderson for the final two games of the series. Then, it’s back to the West Coast for a divisional matchup against the Giants up in San Francisco. Sounds like a good week of baseball to me. Let’s go Dodgers!!
Cans of Corn…
- Brusdar Graterol is NOT Blake Treinen. Just sayin’
- That weird catcher interference call almost worked against the Dodgers in that it took the bat out of Trea’s hands when all that was needed to tie it up was a single.
- Kersh pitched in Rancho Cucamonga today. He gave up a home run, but it went well otherwise. He COULD rejoin the club in San Francisco.
- Feel like this bullpen is a bit of a paper tiger. Could get exposed against a quality opponent.
- When can we figure out how to win in extras?
