After a successful series against the Arizona Diamondbacks in which they won the final three of a four-game series, the Los Angeles Dodgers took a bit of a step back on Monday night, dropping their series opener against the New York Mets, 4-2.
The Dodgers led 1-0 early but failed to add to their lead on multiple occasions. On the other hand, the Mets came up with some big hits late, including a three-run pinch-hit home run by Brandon Nimmo in the ninth inning to give them a decided 4-1 lead.
Los Angeles had one last chance to win it in the bottom of the ninth, but they came up short as Matt Kemp hit into a game-ending double play when he represented the tying run at the plate.
There was a controversial play in that ninth inning though as with a runner on first and no one out, Cody Bellinger hit a hard line drive down the first-base line that umpire Ryan Blakney called foul, ruling the play dead.
Blakney got the call wrong, as the ball hit the chalk and should have been ruled fair. The Dodgers wound up challenging the play and the call was reversed, but since the play was ruled dead, Bellinger was only awarded a single instead of a double.
That then set up the game-ending double play which would not have occurred if Bellinger was on second instead of first. After going back and looking at the replay, Dodgers manager Dave Roberts did not have a problem with Bellinger not being awarded second base since the ricochet went straight to the right fielder, as seen on SportsNet LA:
“They just felt that ball going where it was and caromed to the right fielder, that Verdugo would’ve had third, which I was in favor of,” Roberts said. “But felt that because the right fielder was right there, it was probably going to be a long single. I felt they got it right.”
Bellinger, on the other hand, felt that he could have made it to second if they let it play out:
“Honestly, I don’t know where the ball ended up. I thought I’d be on second base. Usually a ball down the line, you’re on second base. But I didn’t even see where the ball ricocheted or anything, so I don’t even know for sure. … I was just glad they could review that play because I thought for sure that it was fair, and it was.”
Even if Bellinger would have been awarded second, the Dodgers would have still needed to come up with a couple more big hits to complete the comeback victory, which they were not able to do on multiple occasions throughout the course of the game.
So even if the call was the incorrect one, it is hard to blame the loss of that considering the Dodgers went 1-for-7 with runners in scoring position and stranded six runners on base as they saw themselves fall back into second place in the National League West.
