Smith homer wins it in extras

NEW YORK — Finally! After what seemed like an endless string of disappointments, the Dodgers finally put up a W in extra innings. They let a 4-0 lead slip through their fingers, but in the end a Will Smith two-run homer in the top of the tenth inning provided the difference in a 6-5 win against the New York Mets on Friday night.

Dodgers get on the board first

The Dodgers started the game with a quick run in the top of the first inning against Mets starter Tylor Megill. With one out in the inning, Max Muncy hit a double to right field. After a Will Smith K, Corey Seager hit a double of his own, bouncing one over the center field fence. Muncy scored on the play, and the Dodgers were up 1-0.

Three sac flies add on in the middle innings

The Dodgers didn’t have a big inning on Friday, but they managed to cobble together little mini-rallies throughout the game. They got runners on base in third, fourth, and sixth, and managed to scratch across a single run each time, thanks to sacrifice flies from Will Smith, Trea Turner, and Billy McKinney. Without a ton of offense, the Dodgers had stretched the lead to 4-0.

Urias sharp, but lifted after five

Meanwhile, Julio Urias was shoving. He threw over 70 percent strikes and didn’t really have any traffic on the bases in his five innings of work. He was only at 82 pitches when he was lifted for pinch hitter Matt Beaty, though there seemed to be some confusion, as manager Dave Roberts seemed to try to call Beaty back. Nevertheless, Urias was out of the game, and it was up to the bullpen to cover the final four innings. In a post-game interview, Urias said that he was told that he would be coming out because of some muscle tightness, but there was a bit of miscommunication about who would be taking the at-bat in the top of the sixth. Still, it was a good line for the Mexican lefty: 5.0 IP, 2 H, 0 ER, 5 K.

Pen starts strong, but stumbles in seventh

Corey Knebel, still fresh off the IL, was the first man out of the Dodgers’ pen in the bottom of the sixth. He looked much stronger on Friday than he had in his rainy night outing in Philadelphia earlier this week. He gave up a hit, but struck out two in a scoreless 13-pitch inning. Then, Brusdar Graterol came out breathing fire in the seventh, quickly retiring the first two Mets hitters of the inning on back-to-back strikeouts. It seemed like the Dodgers were rolling toward a fairly easy victory in this one.

Not so fast there, Chester. After those two quick K’s, the wheels sort of fell off the apple cart for the Dodgers. The Mets got six consecutive baserunners spread over three Dodger pitchers, and by the time the last out was retired, the Mets had tied the ballgame 4-4. The big moments in the inning were a double by Dom Smith off the Bazooka, and then two doink hits to center off Justin Bruihl. The coup de grace came when Will Smith let a Blake Treinen fastball sneak by him to score the tying run.

Game heads into extras (oh goodie!)

The eighth and ninth were scoreless for both teams, and the game went into the dreaded extra innings. The Dodgers had the first shot at it in this one, starting the tenth with Max Muncy as the designated runner on second. The Dodgers’ extra inning woes are so well-known by now that everyone in Southern California was just wondering exactly how we were going to blow this one.

However, Mr. Will Smith had other ideas. Leading off the inning, Smith worked the count full from reliever Jeurys Familia. Then, he got the pitch he could do something with: a 96 mph sinker that was up and in. He blasted the ball deep into the New York night, and put the Dodgers up 6-4. Smith continues to be among the best clutch hitters for the Dodgers this year, delivering a lot of big hits late in games.

Jansen goes two innings for the win

Having already pitched a scoreless ninth, Kenley Jansen came out in the tenth for a second inning of work. The Mets did manage to push across the designated runner on two productive outs. However, after an intentional walk to James McCann, Jansen got pinch hitter Tomas Nido to fly out to AJ Pollock to end the ballgame. It was a great out for the big man from Curacao, and hopefully his late July hiccup is now firmly in the rearview mirror.

Here come the big guns

The next two nights, the Dodgers will throw their best at the Metropolitans. Cy Young candidate Walker Buehler heads to the mound on Saturday, and Max Scherzer gets the ESPN prime-time start on Sunday Night Baseball. Must-see TV to be sure.