Mets 9 Dodgers 4 (Dodger Stadium, Los Angeles, CA)
Mets record: 11-8
Mets streak: Won 5
WP - Reed Garrett (3-0)
LP - Daniel Hudson (1-1)
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.
Fransicso Lindor was 5-for-55 against lefties and 0-for-16 with runners in scoring position before his at-bat in the 7th inning. That's when he hit a huge home run off of Daniel Hudson to give the Mets the lead back immediately after they had given it up. They would finish it off with an 9-4 victory.
Need to Know
Francisco Alvarez had to leave the game after he turned first to head for second on an error, and he hit his left thumb on the ground to stay on his feet. Carlos Mendoza would only say that he was concerned as he was receiving an MRI after the game.
Harrison Bader continued his recent production from the bottom of the order, going 4-for-5 with a run and an RBI.
Sean Manaea pitched five innings and gave up two runs on four hits and three walks while striking out three.
The Mets scored four runs in six innings off of Yoshinobu Yamamoto (three earned), which included a home run and a sac fly by D.J. Stewart, and an RBI single by Pete Alonso.
Stewart would wind up with two hits and three RBI after his tack on RBI single in the 9th.
Starling Marte had a two run single in the 8th to extend the lead after Lindor's home run in the 7th. Marte went 2-for-5 on the evening.
Jeff McNeil also had a two hit game to raise his average to .233 on the season.
Turning Point
This game had a few twists and turns. The Mets had a 4-0 lead off of the pitcher they offered $325 million to, Yamamoto. The Dodgers would come back on singles by Teoscar Hernandez in the 4th and Shohei Ohtani in the 5th, and then two unearned runs in the 6th thanks to two errors by Joey Wendle. The Mets would turn to Lindor to get the lead back.
To state the obvious: the Mets, and Lindor, really needed that.
Three Keys
Started From The Bottom
The Mets got production up and down the lineup tonight. But the bottom of the Mets order went 7-for-14 (helped of course by Bader's 4-for-5), and it's stark when you compare that to the top of the Dodgers lineup. You know the names: Betts, Ohtani, and Freeman. Those three were held to 1-for-13 with a walk and four strikeouts (three by Freeman).
The Mets have been winning games on the fringes, which is what they need to do without studs like deGrom, Syndergaard, Scherzer, Verlander, and Senga at the top. When the Mets were 0-5, those supporting players weren't getting it done, But now they are, and it has made all the difference.
So How Do you Pitch to Shohei Ohtani?
I mean ... you gotta pray, right? But with Shohei's .382 OPS against breaking balls coming into the game, the Mets kept him somewhat in check by throwing him a totle of 6 fastballs out of the 25 that they threw to him on Friday. And four of those were in one at-bat where Manaea walked him.
The strikeout of Ohtani by Brooks Raley was a clinic.
The Polar Bear Approach
One thing that is noticable so far this season is that Pete Alonso's approach at the plate is a million times better than it was last season. Perhaps he's more relaxed, or perhaps Eric Chavez is just doing the voodoo that he does. But Pete's RBI single in the third saw him keep his hands back and make good contact on a curve ball from Yamamoto, and place it in right field.
No way is that a hit last season.