After the last week plus of the Mets’ flaws overmatching their facets, the team took a huge step forward tonight, getting one of their finest pitching performances and some timely hitting to beat the Dodgers 5-2 at Citi Field.
Unlucky, weak contact led to the first two runs for the Dodgers. A single and a hit by pitch put two on with one out in the top of the second inning. Enrique Hernandez then hit a slow grounder between second and short that scored the first run of the game. The next ball hit off of batter Dalton Rushing but it was called fair and, since the play is not reviewable, led to the second run of the game.
The Mets chipped away with the help of Dodgers starter Tony Gonsolin. In the second with two outs, Gonsolin hit the recently called up Jared Young and then gave up a single to Tyrone Taylor, putting two on with two outs. Brett Baty then laced a line drive between first and second to score Young and put the Mets on the board.
The Mets threatened in the third, with both Juan Soto and Pete Alonso singling, leading to men on the corners with one out. Jeff McNeil laced a line drive to Freddie Freeman that was converted into a 3-6-3 double play to end the inning.
But the Mets broke through in the fourth. Luis Torrens led off the inning with the opposite field single. After Young popped out and Taylor flew out, the Mets had more two-out magic. Baty and Francisco Lindor each walked on four pitches. Starling Marte chopped a ball over Gonsolin for an infield single, scoring Torrens, tying the game and the bases were still loaded. Soto then absolutely laced a ball off the wall, missing a grand slam by just a few feet, scoring Baty and Lindor, though a poor send saw Marte gunned out at the plate, ending the inning with the Mets up by two.
David Peterson, aside from the hard-luck runs in the second, looked excellent tonight. Through the first six innings, Peterson allowed four hits and walked one, but kept the big bats of the Dodgers off the base paths. Peterson struck out four, induced two ground ball double plays, and allowed just two hits to the top five in the Los Angeles lineup.
Anthony Banda replaced Gonsolin in the bottom of the sixth, and the first batter he faced was Mark Vientos, who replaced Young at DH once a lefty entered the game. Vientos, who was a late scratch from last nights’ game, walked in his first plate appearance of the game. After a Taylor fly out, Baty hit a ball in no man’s land behind the mound for an infield hit. Lindor reached on a fielder’s choice, erasing Baty but moving Vientos to third. Lindor stole second, but a weak Marte ground out stranded both runners.
Andy Pages let off the seventh with a single, but Peterson induced yet another ground ball, which looked to become a double play. However, Lindor slightly bobbled the ball and then threw errantly to Alonso, settling for just one out. But one batter later, Peterson did it again, with a 5-4-3 double play ending the frame for the Dodgers.
Bobby Miller, who the Dodgers called up before the game started, pitched the seventh for Los Angeles, and got Soto to fly out on his first pitch thrown. Alonso singled to right, but was caught trying to steal second for the second out. Miller got McNeil to ground out to end the seventh.
After retiring the first batter of the inning, Peterson walked Miguel Rojas to bring Ohtani to bat as the tying run. However, Peterson’s dominance against Ohtani continued, striking him out for the third time of the night. That would be it for Peterson, who threw 99 pitches, struck out seven, walked two, and allowed five hits. This was among Peterson’s most impressive outings of his career and, when considering just how good the Dodgers are, it is even more impressive.
Due to the bullpen usage last night, Edwin Díaz was called on to get a four out save. Pinch runner Hyeseong Kim stole second during Mookie Betts’s at-bat, but it didn’t matter, as Betts went down looking to end the eighth.
Torrens led off the ninth with his second hit of the night and the second of the night against Miller. Vientos then got drilled in the bicep, putting two on with no one out. After a Taylor fly out, Baty continued his hot streak by peppering a double off the left-center field wall, driving in Torrens and giving the Mets some more cushion. After intentionally walking Lindor to load the bases, Luisangel Acuna, who came into the game for Marte, pounded a ball right before the plate, which led to a force out at home.
For the second time in the game, Soto came to bat with the bases loaded and two outs. This time, Soto hit a weak grounder to first to end the eighth. But with two hits and two RBIs tonight, perhaps Soto’s bat is beginning to wake up.
Díaz entered the ninth with a three-run lead facing the meat of the Dodgers’ lineup. Teoscar Hernandez went down swinging on a great Díaz slider. Freeman then went down on three pitches for the second out. Pages grounded out for the final out of the game and the Mets tied the series up.
The series wraps up tomorrow night with the third straight national broadcast, this time on ESPN [shudders, vomits a little in mouth]. Kodai Senga starts for the Mets, with Landon Knack on the hill for Los Angeles.
SB Nation GameThreads
Box scores
Win Probability Added
Big Mets winner: Brett Baty, +19.2% WPA
Big Mets loser: Jeff McNeil, -18.1% WPA
Mets pitchers: +24.6% WPA
Mets hitters: +25.4% WPA
Teh aw3s0mest play: Juan Soto’s two RBI double, +18.1% WPA
Teh sux0rest play: Enrique Hernandez’s second inning single, – 13.4% WPA
