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Best Games Of 2019 Season: No. 3, Dodgers Rally For Walk-Off Win Over Mets

Jeff Spiegel
6 Min Read
Jayne Kamin-Oncea/Getty Images


Amid the ongoing wait for the 2020 Major League Baseball season being delayed, MLB.TV made every game from 2018 and 2019 available to stream for free. With that, DodgerBlue.com ranked the best Los Angeles Dodgers games from those two years.

The list continues with our No. 3 game from the 2019 season, when the Dodgers mounted a magical rally and earned a walk-off win against the New York Mets.

In the classic movie Back to the Future II, one of the more enjoyable subplots is the idea that Michael J. Fox’s character wants to go back in time in order to bet on sports. If ever there was a night to travel back in time and bet on sports, it may have been May 29, 2019.

On the mound for the Dodgers and Mets were two of the very best in all of baseball: Walker Buehler and Noah Syndergaard. As a result, there was a modest over/under of 7.5 — with everyone in their right minds expecting a pitchers’ duel until the bullpens could get involved.

Little did they know that this game would feature 17 runs. But that wasn’t the only betting opportunity on this night — that would come a little bit later.

Before the Dodgers could blink, they found themselves down 2-0 thanks to an absolute laser from Pete Alonso that went into the right-field pavilion. That lead would be extended to three in the second inning before the Dodgers could finally dent the scoreboard.

Their scoring came thanks to three consecutive doubles from Corey Seager, Matt Beaty and Alex Verdugo — making it a 3-2 game in the second. L.A. tied the game in the very next inning on an RBI single from Justin Turner. It wasn’t easy; Max Muncy scored just ahead of the tag.

But Alonso was having none of it. In the top of the fifth he roped his second two-run homer of the night into the left-field seats this time. That would just about end Buehler’s night, as he finished with a line of five innings pitched, seven hits, five earned runs, one walk and six strikeouts.

Unfortunately, the bullpen wasn’t much of an upgrade. Pedro Baez gave up two hits and a run in the sixth, before Dodgers manager Dave Roberts turned to Julio Urias in the seventh inning. The first pitch Urias threw was sent out by Ahmed Rosario, only to be matched by Dominic Smith in the very next at-bat.

All of a sudden, the Dodgers went from tied to trailing 8-3 in a hurry.

They would claw their way back, though, with another RBI single from Turner before a Seager solo bomb cut the deficit to 8-5 in the eighth.

But then came the bottom of the ninth — where the Dodgers were just three outs away from suffering a loss. At one point, you could have gotten the Dodgers at +650 to win this game — meaning for every hundred dollars you bet, you’d be getting $650. If only we knew the future…

With Edwin Diaz on the mound, the Dodgers didn’t waste any time stating their intentions. Joc Pederson led off the inning with a sweet-swinging home run before Muncy went back-to-back by keeping one just inside the foul pole.

Still with no outs, Turner and Cody Bellinger laced back-to-back doubles that left the game tied and the Mets in desperate trouble. After Seager was intentionally walked, Matt Beaty notched an infield single to load the bases with nobody out.

Next up was Alex Verdugo — a youngster who had no fear when it came to the big moments. After digging himself into an 0-2 hole, Verdugo worked the count to 2-2 before lifting a ball plenty deep enough into left field to score Bellinger easily, giving the Dodgers a 9-8 walk-off win.

In total, the game featured 17 runs, 28 hits, seven walks and 344 pitches before the Dodgers walked it off for their 37th win of the season.

Best Dodgers games of 2019

No. 4: Justin Turner has career night against Atlanta Braves

No. 5: Hyun-Jin Ryu nearly throws no-hitter against Washington Nationals

No. 6: Matt Beaty starts rookie walk-off weekend

No. 7: Regular-season finale sets franchise record for most wins

No. 8: Opening Day record eight home runs against Arizona Diamondbacks

No. 9: Kiké Hernandez hits walk-off on bobblehead night

No. 10: Clinching seventh consecutive National League West title in record fashion

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Jeff Spiegel was raised in California but currently resides in Portland, Oregon. After graduating from the University of Oregon, he worked in sports before entering journalism full time — first as a Sports Reporter and then as the Associate Editor of a local newspaper. Online, he has been writing about both the Dodgers and Raiders since 2012 — having written for DodgersNation.com and SBNation.com prior to joining both DodgerBlue.com and RaidersNation.com. He left full-time journalism in 2012 to become a pastor. Jeff can be found on Twitter at @JeffSpiegel. Favorite Dodger I'm going past and present (sort of) on this one. Recently, I was a die hard Yasiel Puig guy. The energy he played with was amazing and the hope and expectation he brought every single night was captivating. Whether it was a rifle from the warning track to throw a guy out at second, an aggressive bat flip or licking his bat, I was here for ALL of the Yasiel Puig era. Past tense, I'd go with Eric Gagné. This wasn't so much about Gagné himself as it was the experience of cheering for him. Yes, he was on steroids — but the dude was unlike any pitcher I've ever seen — he was NASTY. I still stand by the claim that if I needed one out and my life depended on it, and could choose any pitcher from any era to get me that out, I'm taking roided up Gagné in a heartbeat. Favorite Dodger Moment A few jump to mind immediately. Being born in November of 1988, I missed the last World Series by weeks — which also meant I didn't get to see the Dodgers win a playoff game until I was nearly 16. They had made the playoffs in 1995 and 1996, but were swept both times. In 2004, though, I got to see them win behind a complete game shutout from Jose Lima, and that was pretty freaking special. The next in-person moment that came to mind was the Manny Ramirez bobblehead night pinch-hit grand slam from 2009. Vin Scully claimed it was the loudest he had heard Dodger Stadium in 20 years, and it's hard to disagree. As far as ones I didn't get to see live, I'll throw one more out there: the back-to-back-to-back-to-back home runs that tied a game against the Padres in 2006 (plus the walk-off from Nomar Garciaparra in extra innings) was an all-timer. Obviously, the impending Dodgers World Series will quickly jump to the top of this list...