After losing on a Curtis Granderson walk-off home run Friday night, the Los Angeles Dodgers and New York Mets squared off in a rematch between Kenta Maeda and Noah Syndergaard.
Chase Utley was called out on strikes to open the game, much to the delight of the Citi Field crowd. Corey Seager followed with a base hit, and after Justin Turner struck out swinging, Adrian Gonzalez kept the inning alive with a single.
The inning came to an end on Trayce Thompson’s grounder. Maeda erased a Granderson leadoff single in the bottom of the first by getting Asdrubal Cabrera to ground into a 3-6-3 double. Michael Conforto then reached on a line drive that hit off Maeda’s throwing hand.
He was checked on by the training staff and remained in the game after throwing a few practice tosses. Yoenis Cespedes rolled a grounder over to Seager for the third out in a scoreless first inning.
Syndergaard retired the side in order in the second inning, picking up his third strikeout of the game in the process. Maeda worked around a two-out walk in the bottom of the second to keep the game locked in a scoreless tie.
The long-anticipated fireworks between the Mets and Utley surfaced in the third, with Syndergaard throwing behind the veteran infielder. Syndergaard was immediately rejected, and so too was Mets manager Terry Collins, who rushed out of the dugout to argue his pitcher’s ejection.
Logan Verrett took over and struck out Utley and Seager to end the third. Maeda continued to show no lingering effects of being hit on the hand as he threw a 1-2-3 bottom of the third inning.
Turner led off the fourth with a double to left-center field, and he advanced to third base on a Gonzalez grounder to the right side. Turner was then caught in a rundown on a comebacker for the second out and Joc Pederson lined into the shift to end the inning.
CONTINUE READING: Utley connects for grand slam
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.