Maeda retired the first two batters faced in the bottom of the fourth before walking Neil Walker. He was stranded as Eric Campbell struck out swinging to end the inning. Verrett and Maeda both tossed a 1-2-3 inning in the fifth.
Amid “hit him!” chants from the Citi Field crowd, Utley broke the scoreless tie in the sixth inning with a solo home run. Gonzalez doubled to left field with two outs, and scored on Yasiel Puig’s RBI single.
Adam Liberatore took over in the bottom of the sixth and retired all three batters faced. Antonio Bastardo came on in relief of Verrett in the seventh inning and immediately found himself in trouble.
Pederson led off with a double and Kendrick followed with a single to put runners on the corners with no outs. After Kendrick stole second base without a throw, Yasmani Grandal drew a walk to load the bases. Hansel Robles replaced Bastardo and struck out pinch-hitter Kiké Hernandez.
With the bases still loaded, Utley did more damage by connecting for a grand slam that extended the Dodgers’ lead to 6-0. Chris Hatcher picked up two strikeouts and worked around a walk and wild pitch to toss a scoreless inning in the bottom of the seventh.
Gonzalez and Kendrick each hit a solo home run in the eighth, pushing the Dodgers’ lead to 8-0. Their four-home run game was the first of the season. Juan Lagares ensured the Mets would not be shut out by hitting a pinch-hit solo home run off J.P. Howell in the eighth inning.
Seager added a solo home run in the ninth, and newly added call-up Casey Fien struck out the side in the bottom of the inning to wrap up the Dodgers’ 9-1 victory.
