LOS ANGELES – The Mets tried to complete a series split against the Dodgers by doing something old and something new. Old: Rallying late, coming back and taking the lead. NEW: Buck Showalter uses his close in the eighth inning instead of the ninth to face the three best hitters at the top of the Dodgers order. The decision didn’t work out at all, but the Mets beat the Dodgers 5–4, thanks to a timely hit from JD Davis in 10 innings anyway.
Edwin Diaz defended the Mets lead by two runs when Showalter flipped the script and called his close for the eighth inning. Diaz was out of the lights, prompting Mookie Bates and Freddie Freeman to fly out before freezing Tree Turner on a slider inside. In an unusual scene, Diaz went off the mound and into the dugout instead of high-finging his catcher after a shutout innings.
There was still more work to do. Setup man Seth Lugo was ninth, and he immediately scored a leadoff home run for Dodgers catcher Will Smith, who parked an opposite field teeter in right field and cut the Mets’ lead into a moderately short run. Lugo could not stand. He surrendered a double to Chris Taylor and an RBI single to Eddie Alvarez as the Dodgers tied the game and sent it into the extra innings.
The Mets (37–19) came back early when Davis ripped a double in the center and scored in the 10th inning to score second-place free runner Pete Alonso. With all of Showalter’s high-leverage relievers already used, it was up to Adonis Medina to try and lock in his first career save. Medina, who was tasked with facing Bates, Freeman and Tree Turner, dismissed his first two batsmen, but a catcher’s interference led Turner with a tying run to first base, free runner Gavin Lux in third. kept.
Adonis dismissed Smith in the final to end an incredibly exciting series against the Dodgers.
Down a run in the eighth, Francisco Lindor initially lit the spark of the rally when he opened the innings with a ground-rule double to right field. Then Pete Alonso, as clutch as he gets for the Mets right now, collected his 54th RBI of the year when he ripped a game-tying double to left field that easily scored Lindor. . Eduardo Escobar later gave the Mets the lead, a forward sacrifice moved to right field, and Tomas Nido pads up with an RBI single to run the insurance.
Trevor Williams, who may have essentially started his last place before jumping back into the bullpen, and the Amazon’s bullpen held the Mets long enough in the game to return the offense and rally into eighth.
Williams conceded two runs in five innings and six hits on 86 pitches in his fifth start of the season for the Mets, including without a walk and five strikes. His season ERA remained at 3.58, as he only allowed runs, which came off Tree Turner’s bat, in the form of a first innings, two-run home run. But Williams declined to convert in a solid outing.
The right-handed batsman gave up a ton of hard contact—five of six hits allowed at 91 mph or more—while balls falling for outs were also crushed. But, despite a never-ending threat from the Dodgers lineup, Williams overtook 14 of his next 18 batsmen after a home run to Turner and retired.
Brandon Nimmo was hit by a 95-mph delivery Caleb Ferguson who drilled his right arm with two outs in the seventh inning. Nimmo, who almost always runs to first base even after being hit by a pitch, was down on the ground for several moments in apparent pain. Showalter and a Mets trainer came out to look for the center fielder, but Nimmo soon stood up and took first base. After the seventh inning, Showalter came back to see Nimmo, who shooed him away and ran to the outfield to stay in the game.
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