After an off-day spent traveling, the Los Angeles Dodgers began a seven-game road trip in New York on Friday night for the start of a three-game series with the Mets. The matchup featured a pair of young starters in Jacob deGrom and Julio Urias, with the latter making his Major League debut.
Chase Utley drew a leadoff walk in the first inning, but was caught stealing on a strike ’em out, throw ’em out with Corey Seager caught looking. deGrom then struck out Justin Turner swinging to end a scoreless first.
Urias’ first pitch in the Majors was a high fastball for ball one to Curtis Granderson. The at-bat ended with Granderson called out on strikes after working a full count.
Asdrubal Cabrera followed with a double and soon after advanced to third base on a wild pitch. Urias walked Yoenis Cespedes, then gave up an RBI double to Neil Walker. Juan Lagares poked a two-run single into center field by Seager’s extended arm.
Urias allowed another single before getting out of a laborious first inning in which he threw 36 pitches. Adrian Gonzalez grounded out and Howie Kendrick and Joc Pederson were called out on strikes in a quick second inning for deGrom.
Urias worked around a one-out walk in the bottom of the second to keep the Mets’ lead at 3-0. Yasiel Puig drew a leadoff walk in the third inning and went first to third base on a Yasmani Grandal flare single into right field.
deGrom was unable to field Urias’ bunt to the right side of the mound, allowing the Dodgers to load the bases with no outs. deGrom did however limit the damage to just one run on an Utley sacrifice fly.
CONTINUE READING: Chase Utley plays hero in ninth inning
Urias retired the first two batters faced in the bottom of the third before running into trouble. It began with a Lagares single, and continued with back-to-back walks of Kevin Plawecki and Eric Campbell to load the bases.
That marked the end of the road for Urias. He exited after throwing 81 pitches over 2.2 innings, with three runs allowed and responsible for all three baserunners Chris Hatcher inherited. None came across as Hatcher struck out deGrom to end the threat.
deGrom hit Turner with a pitch to start the fourth inning and gave up a single to Gonzalez that put two on with no outs. Nothing came of it as Kendrick grounded into a force out, Pederson struck out swinging, and Puig grounded out.
David Wright connected for a two-out solo home run in the bottom of the fourth, giving the Mets a 4-1 lead before Hatcher managed to get out of the inning. A two-out rally in the fifth began to form on an Utley walk and Seager broken-bat single to left field.
Turner left both runners stranded by grounding out to end the inning. Lagares’ night of success continued in the bottom of the fifth, with the center fielder connecting for an opposite-field solo home run off Joe Blanton.
The homer, Lagares’ first of the season, pushed the Mets’ lead to 5-1. deGrom sailed in the sixth and seventh innings, retiring the Dodgers in order each time. Jerry Blevins took over for the Mets in the eighth and gave up a one-out base hit to Seager.
Addison Reed then came on in relief and got Turner to ground into an inning-ending double play. Gonzalez and Kendrick hit back-to-back singles off Mets closer Jeurys Familia with no outs in the ninth. Familia struck out Pederson on three pitches, but allowed a single to Puig that loaded the bases.
Familia walked Grandal to bring a run in and had the Dodgers down to their final out after getting pinch-hitter Trayce Thompson swinging. In fitting fashion, Utley represented the Dodgers’ final hope and he delivered with a bases-clearing double to tie the game.
However, the excitement was quickly washed away as Pedro Baez allowed a walk-off home run to Granderson to lead off the bottom of the ninth.