Dodgers Digest Los Angeles Dodgers Baseball Blog
With their win-streak snapped last night and now finding themselves even further in a hole in the NL West, the Dodgers got their three-game series in New York off on the right foot with a 6-5 victory over the Mets that was notable for not only being a one-run win but a win in extras as well.
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Tylor Megill has been great for the Mets in 2021, but over his last two starts he’s seen his ERA rise more than a run after giving up four earned in back-to-back outings. Things didn’t get off to a much better start for him tonight, with the Dodgers striking in the 1st behind doubles from Max Muncy and Corey Seager to make it 1-0. More than that, though, they put together a bunch of quality at-bats, working 32 pitches in the frame.
After Megill rebounded with a quiet 2nd, Trea Turner led the 3rd off with a single and Muncy grounded one through the shift to put runners on the corners. Will Smith then cashed in a run with a sacrifice fly to left for a 2-0 lead. Things continued to be messy in the 4th, as Cody Bellinger singled, Billy McKinney walked, and Julio Urias got hit on the left calf to load the bases. Turner hit a sac fly to make it 3-0, but Megill did nicely to prevent disaster in the 4th and also got a flawless 5th.
Things were scoreless on the other end thanks to Urias. After an eight-pitch 1st, Urias labored through 42 pitches over the next two innings despite only giving up a walk and a single. The 4th was another quick inning, but the 5th was another struggle. Urias gave up a single and a 10-pitch walk, but eventually escaped his first real trouble of the game.
The Dodgers continue to be cautious with Urias as he’s become one of their few constants in the rotation, but he did his job: 5 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 2 BB, 5 K, 82 Pitches.
Drew Smith relieved Megill in the 6th, with Chris Taylor doubling on the first pitch he saw and then moving to third on a bizarre play where the catcher overthrew the throw back to the pitcher. McKinney cashed that in immediately with the third sac fly for the Dodgers of the game to make it 4-0.
Corey Knebel took over for Urias in the 6th, giving up a single against the shift but rebounding with a scoreless inning that included two strikeouts.
Then disaster struck.
Brusdar Graterol had a promising outing himself, starting with back-to-back strikeouts in the 7th before surrendering a double. Handedness led to Justin Bruihl entering, but he gave up a bloop single to Dominic Smith to cut the lead to 4-1. He then issued a walk, threw a wild pitch, and then issued an intentional walk to load the bases. The move was again for handedness, but Jeff McNeil blooped another hit in to center to make it 4-3.
That forced Blake Treinen into the game early, and the game was tied at 4-4 on a Smith passed ball, and Treinen issued a walk before he was able to get a fly out to end it.
Dave Roberts had multiple choices here that were arguably better options, as while Graterol is around 200 points worse against lefties, he also has a better track record (which is any at all) than Bruihl and could’ve continued. He could’ve also simply not walked the bases loaded on purpose for the heart of the Mets order, or he could’ve had Treinen ready to go for McNeil instead of letting Bruihl face the biggest at-bat of the game. Sure, to some extent they got unlucky and didn’t execute, but there were better options.
Anyway, Treinen continued on for a scoreless 8th that included a strikeout, giving up a single but facing the minimum thanks to picking the runner off.
The Mets pen was cruising on the other side of things, with Yennsy Diaz getting a perfect 7th and Miguel Castro striking out two in a scoreless 8th. Edwin Diaz had an eventful 9th, giving up a lead-off walk, catching a pop bunt, balking the runner to second, then getting back-to-back strikeouts that included Mets fans trying to blind Muncy or something.
Kenley Jansen was tasked with the 9th and got the side on 11 pitches with a ground out, fly out, and strikeout to send things into the dreaded extras.
Shockingly things started well in the 10th for the Dodgers, as Jeurys Familia started by serving up a two-run dong to Smith, his 16th.
The Dodgers needed him, so Kenley continued in the 10th, starting things with a fly out that advanced the runner and then issued a walk to corner things. He then got a ground out that scored a run to make it 6-5, which also moved the other runner into scoring position, then intentionally walked a batter. Tomas Nido ended up being the hitter, and he ended the tension with a nice easy fly out to left on the first pitch.
Goddamn.
TÍO ALBERT GIVE WILL SMITH ALL THE HUGS HE DESERVES ALL OF THEM 🥺 pic.twitter.com/Kc5dZtXUh8
— Hannah (@heyimhannahlee) August 14, 2021
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The Dodgers are now 70-46, the fourth team to reach 70 wins in the majors. They also trim the NL West deficit to 4.5 games behind the Giants, though only temporarily.
The two teams will do it again tomorrow at 1:10 PM HT/4:10 PM PT/7:10 PM ET with Walker Buehler (2.13 ERA/3.12 FIP/3.05 xERA) facing Taijuan Walker (3.89/4.41/4.69).
