The Mets secured a series win, defeating the Los Angeles Dodgers 5-3 on Thursday afternoon at Citi Field.
Here are some key takeaways...
- Making his first start off the IL since Aug. 4, Clayton Kershaw looked rusty early, and the Mets took advantage by using a patient approach against the veteran lefty. Kershaw’s command was spotty in the first inning, and the Mets worked three walks off of him, including one from Mark Canha that forced in the first run of the game.
Kershaw walking in a run is as rare a sight as there is in baseball, with the last occurrence coming in 2015. It was also the first time Kershaw walked three batters in an inning since 2013.
- The Dodgers made Chris Bassitt work just as hard, forcing the righty to throw 43 pitches over his first two innings. The Dodgers loaded the bases in the second, and Chris Taylor delivered with a two-run single to right, putting the Dodgers ahead, though Trayce Thompson was thrown out by a mile at home plate as the Dodgers looked to have some confusion on the base paths.
- After that rough first inning, Kershaw rounded into form, retiring 13 straight Mets to get through the fifth inning. Kershaw’s day ended there, as he allowed one earned run on just one hit, striking out six and walking three while throwing 74 pitches (46 strikes).
Bassitt settled in well, escaping a bases-loaded, two-out jam in the sixth inning by getting Gavin Lux to bounce out to first base. His command wasn’t pristine, but he allowed just two earned runs over 6.0 innings of work, surrendering six hits with four strikeouts and three walks.
- With Kershaw out of the game, the Mets struck back against reliever Chris Martin in the sixth. After a leadoff hustle single from Starling Marte, Francisco Lindor roped a double into the left-center gap, scoring Marte all the way from first.
After Lindor stole third, Darin Ruf – who has had a tough go of it recently – drove a ball deep into the left field corner that was caught on the track but enough to score Lindor and put the Mets up 3-2.
- The Mets tacked on two more runs in the seventh thanks to some poor Dodgers "fundies." After a two-out James McCann double, Brandon Nimmo lofted a routine fly ball to shallow right, but Lux and Mookie Betts both thought the other had it, and it dropped in for an RBI double.
Next up, Marte roped a single to left, scoring Nimmo to make it a 5-2 game.
- With the heart of the Dodgers lineup due up in the eighth, Buck Showalter went to Edwin Diaz an inning early. He walked a batter and hit another to put two runners on, and the Dodgers hit a pair of deep fly balls to score a run, but Diaz got out of the inning with a Lux strikeout.
Adam Ottavino came on in the ninth, striking out two in an easy 1-2-3 inning.