Dodgers go to the Max thanks to Muncy before LA beats Mets in 10

Dodgers 6 Mets 5 (Dodger Stadium, Los Angeles, CA)

Mets Record: 38-23

Mets Streak: L1

Mets Last 10: 8-2

WP: Tanner Scott (1-2)

LP: José Buttó (2-1)

Seat On The Korner:

We select the star of the game and virtually invite him to a Seat on the Korner, just as Ralph Kiner used to do for his studio postgame show on WOR-channel 9 broadcasts in the early decades of the Mets.

Max Muncy had a rough start to the season. After the first 28 games, the Dodgers slugger was struggling with a .180 average, .531 OPS, no homers and four RBI. But when Muncy gets hot, look out — and he had gotten hot in time for this four-game series against the Mets in Los Angeles. Muncy had three home runs in the two games before the Mets came to town and, although he was kept in check in Monday's opener, Muncy cracked a pair of homers in this one — the second when the Mets were trying to nail down a victory — to earn his spot in the Korner. Muncy's first homer, a two-run shot, came in the Dodgers first inning to cap a four-run rally against Tylor Megill and put the Mets in a big hole early.

Credit to the Mets: Their pitchers held the Dodgers there and their hitters battled back to take a 5-4 lead into the ninth inning — and then Muncy struck again. With Huascar Brazobán on to bid for the save and Muncy leading off, Brazobán got ahead 1-2 and tried to finish him off with a high fastball. But he didn't get the pitch in enough and Muncy launched a no-doubter into the seats in right field. It was the 17th time in Muncy's career he hit two homers in a game, and it kept the Dodgers alive before they could win it in the 10th.

Need To Know:

• Although the Phillies won their game, the Mets remained in first place by a half-game.

• Dodgers starter Clayton Kershaw entered the game 11-0 against the Mets with a 2.00 ERA in 18 career starts. His 2.51 career ERA coming in was best among active players.

• Ronnie Mauricio, who was tearing it up in Triple A, joined the Mets and started at third base. Playing in his first big-league game in 611 days, Mauricio went 0-for-4.

• Mark Vientos, who strained his hamstring in the 10th inning of Monday night's victory, was placed on the injured list.

• The Mets also made some changes to their bullpen. The team announced that Paul Blackburn, who pitched well in his first start of the season on Monday night, was being moved to the 'pen. Also, Max Kranick was sent down and replaced in the bullpen by Brandon Waddell to give the Mets more available fresh arms.

• Mookie Betts, who fractured a toe in an accident at home and missed four games, was back in the Dodgers lineup at shortstop. Betts went 2-for-5 with a run scored.

• Juan Soto's two-run home run in the third inning gave him five straight games with an extra-base hit. It came on an 0-1, 91-mph Kershaw fastball, the hardest pitch the Dodger lefty threw in the game.

• Soto made a fine play in the fourth inning, running to the sidewall and reaching into the stands to catch a foul fly by Will Smith leading off the inning.

• The four runs scored by the Dodgers marked the first time this season that the Mets gave up more than two runs in the first inning.

• Pete Alonso had a pair of two-out RBI hits, a single in the first inning to give the Mets the early lead and a double to left-center to tie the game at 4-4 in the fifth inning.

• Alonso brought a long eight-pound sledgehammer to the on-deck circle to use for some of his warmup swings. Brandon Nimmo used it, too.

• Righty reliever Jose Urena, who was released by the Mets earlier this season, started the ninth inning for the Dodgers. Urena hooked up with the Blue Jays after the Mets let him go, then opted for free agency rather than accept a minor league assignment with Toronto. The Dodgers picked him up and added him to the roster yesterday. He pitched two-thirds of an inning in the ninth, giving up a double before being yanked.

Turning Point

The game ultimately turned on its last play. After the Mets failed to score in the top of the 10th, LA started the bottom half with Tommy Edman at second as the free runner. Mets manager Carlos Mendoza elected to walk Shohei Ohtani — hitless for the night — to set up forces since Edman was the winning run. Jose Butto, called on to pitch the 10th, got the first out on Mookie Betts' fly to left to bring up Freddie Freeman. Butto's first pitch to Freeman — a change-up lower-middle — was lifted to the opposite field. Mets left-fielder Brandon Nimmo — playing somewhat shallow with the winning run at second — drifted back as the ball sliced toward the foul line. If Nimmo catches it, Butto has just one more out to get to push the game to the 11th inning. But Nimmo spun around, looked up and the ball fell harmlessly on the warning track to Nimmo's right for a double, as Edman ran home with the winning run.

Nimmo explained what happened on the play.

Three Keys:

Tylor-made deficit

Tylor Megill was knocked around early in his start against the Dodgers. Having been given a 1-0 lead when he took the mound in the last of the first and starting his night by striking out Shohei Ohtani, Megill yielded a hit to Mookie Betts, a double to Freddie Freeman that tied the game and, after a walk to Teoscar Henandez, Freeman scored on a ground out to put LA ahead. Max Muncy then got Megill for a homer to give the Dodgers a 4-1 lead. Megill would rebound and stop the Dodgers cold after that. He got a grounder to end the inning on his way to retiring nine straight. By the time he left after six innings, he had retired 16 of 17 batters after Muncy's homer and left the game with a 5-4 lead. Still, he put the Mets in a hole to start the game.

Freddie starting and finishing

Freddie Freeman is leading the NL in hitting at .369 and the two doubles he got last night — one in the first inning and one in the last — were among the reasons the Mets failed to win their second straight in LA. With the Mets holding a 1-0 lead when Freeman came to bat with a runner at first and one out, he ripped a line drive over Pete Alonso's head into the right-field corner to tie the game.

Then, with the game on the line in the 10th inning, Freeman lifted a fly ball to the warning track in left field. Off the bat, it seemed on its way to being a three-run game-winning homer. But, as it turned out, Brandon Nimmo probably should have caught it. The ball sliced toward the foul line, Nimmo got turned around and was never able to reach it as it landed on the track as the Dodgers walked it off.

Ben there, done that impressively

The Mets got to Clayton Kershaw to overcome a 4-1 deficit and the Dodgers starter exited with two out in a fifth inning after losing the lead. The Amazin's were threatening to add some insurance, with runners at first and third. Dave Roberts called on Ben Casparius and the Dodgers rookie stopped the Mets cold. After ending that inning by getting Tyronne Taylor to line out, Casparius retired six straight — including strikeouts of Francisco Lindor and Starling Marte — to keep it a one-run game at the seventh-inning stretch.