The Los Angeles Dodgers snapped their five game losing streak with a 5-2 extra innings win against the New York Mets in the first game of a double header.
The Dodgers finished with five runs on 11 hits, but the final line score is a bit deceiving.
The Dodgers offense was unable to get much going against Mets starter Tylor Megill and even when they were threatening to score they went 0-for-4 with runners in scoring position. They were fortunately bailed out by the Mets bullpen and some poor defensive play from their infield.
After going on to win the game, Dodgers manager Dave Roberts was proud of his club for getting back on track, via Jack Harris of the L.A. Times:
“To get back to our winning ways was a good thing,” manager Dave Roberts said. “Now, we have a chance to get greedy.”
Entering the eighth with a 2-0 deficit, Freddie Freeman came through with a two-out RBI single to finally get the Dodgers on the board.
Faced with the possibility of losing their sixth game in a row, the Dodgers strung together three hits in a row to tie the game at 2-2 in the bottom of the ninth.
With runners on first and third with no outs and the struggling Chris Taylor at the plate, they put the safety squeeze on:
“Just trying to find something that can potentially put the pressure on,” Roberts said of the decision. “Trying to be a little bit proactive and make something happen.”
Taylor executed the bunt and the pitcher was unable to cleanly make a play on it so it ended up being an RBI single that tied the game.
However, Jason Heyward struck out and Andy Pages hit into a double play to end the threat.
As extra-innings began, Mookie Betts wasted no time and singled home Pages from second to give the Dodgers their first lead of the game. Later on Freeman hit his sixth home run of the season to give the Dodgers a 5-2 lead heading into the bottom of the 10th inning.
That was enough for Blake Treinen to close out the game and give the Dodgers the win.
Dodgers offense still has a lot of work to do
Despite the win, the Dodgers’ offense was still not firing on all cylinders and struggled to capitalize on prime run-scoring opportunities. They were 3-for-11 with runners in scoring position overall in the first game on Tuesday.
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