Their opponent changed but the Los Angeles Dodgers nonetheless were locked in another tight game that swung on a dramatic home run. Brandon Nimmo’s pinch-hit three-run homer carried the New York Mets to a 4-2 victory that snapped the Dodgers’ three-game winning streak.
Before that, Jacob deGrom singlehandedly kept the Mets in the game by settling in on the mound and providing his own run support. Having previously singled with two outs in the third inning, deGrom flared an RBI base hit into right field to tie the game in the fifth.
That prompted Dodgers manager Dave Roberts to visit the mound, though Alex Wood lobbied his way into remaining in the game. The decision didn’t cost the Dodgers as Wood retired Amed Rosario two pitches later to end the inning.
Wood’s five innings of work marked a third time in his past four starts he’s failed to pitch deeper than that into a game.
Justin Turner’s solo home run in the first inning gave the Dodgers an early lead but they otherwise struggled to generate much of anything against deGrom. Turner entered play 0-for-16 in his career when facing deGrom in the regular season.
deGrom retired five in a row after the homer and held the Dodgers without a hit until Manny Machado’s leadoff single in the fourth. Yasiel Puig and Turner both reached on fielding errors in the fifth and sixth innings, respectively, but they were stranded.
While the Dodgers failed to come up with hits, they at least forced the right-hander to labor. deGrom needed 34 pitches alone to get through the sixth inning alone. And at 109 pitches, he was pinch-hit for in the seventh.
deGrom held the Dodgers to just the one hit, and had six strikeouts against one walk. Los Angeles immediately had an opportunity to take the lead on the Mets’ bullpen but couldn’t get out of their own way.
Alex Verdugo’s leadoff double and Cody Bellinger’s single put runners at the corners with nobody out in the bottom of the seventh. But Yasmani Grandal struck out and Puig grounded into an inning-ending double play on a 2-0 pitch.
Matt Kemp, hero in each of the past two games, was left standing in the on-deck circle.
The Dodgers then ran into a bit of bad luck in the eighth as Turner’s two-out walk was followed by Machado’s ground-rule double. Had the ball not bounced and carried over the short fence in the right field corner, it’s plausible Turner would’ve scored the go-ahead run.
Kemp did get his opportunity in the bottom of the ninth, representing the tying run with one out. Third time was not a charm as he hit into a game-ending double play.
With the Colorado Rockies defeating the San Diego Padres, the Dodgers slipped to a half-game back of first place in the National League West.
