A combination of Tony Gonsolin struggling in the first inning and the Los Angeles Dodgers being mired in a stretch of allowing their opponent to score first proved too challenging to overcome as the Mets notched a 6-1 win on Wednesday night.
Gonsolin entered the start with a 6.00 ERA in the first innings this season, and proceeded to allow the Mets to immediately take a 3-0 lead.
Gosnolin’s second pitch of the game hit Francisco Lindor, and that was followed by Kiké Hernández failing to come up with a potential double play ball. After Juan Soto’s RBI groundout, Pete Alonso clubbed a two-run homer. Hernández’s error meant two of the Mets’ three runs in the inning were earned.
Like he has in previous outings, Gonsolin managed to settle in. The three runs early were all he allowed over five innings pitched. Gonsolin finished with six strikeouts, his third-highest total in seven starts this season.
Gonsolin’s effort was bested by Griffin Canning turning in six scoreless innings. The Dodgers mustered just three hits off the right-hander and had multiple fly balls caught deep in the outfield and they failed to put a runner in scoring position.
Through six head-to-head meetings so far this season, Mets starting pitchers have a 2.84 ERA against the Dodgers. That’s far superior to all other teams combining for a 5.35 ERA when facing the Dodgers.
New York going to their bullpen nearly backfired as a double from Andy Pages and hit by pitch brought the tying run to the plate with one out. José Castillo wiggled out of the jam by striking out Dalton Rushing and Kiké Hernández on six pitches.
That proved consequential when Alonso effectively put the game out of range with a three-run homer off Ryan Loutos in the seventh inning. Alonso’s blast traveled an estimated 447 feet, good for the longest home run hit by a Mets player this season.
That gave Alonso 11 career games with at least five RBI, breaking a tie with David Wright for most such performances in Mets franchise history.
Mookie Betts, Freddie Freeman, Teoscar Hernández and Max Muncy went a combined 0-for-14 with four strikeouts.
Pages, who earlier in the night had extended his hitting streak to nine games, prevented the Dodgers from being shut out by delivering a home run in the bottom of the ninth. Pages finished a triple shy of the cycle.
Tommy Edman was not in the lineup on Wednesday night due to a bout with right ankle soreness. It’s the same ankle Edman sprained while on a rehab assignment for wrist surgery last year, and the one that cost him three weeks on the 10-day injured list last month because of inflammation and lingering soreness.
Mets take season series from Dodgers
Regardless of what unfolds in the afternoon game at Dodger Stadium on Thursday, the Dodgers have already lost the season series to the Mets. The Dodgers also lost their season series with the Chicago Cubs, who lead the National League Central.
That could become a factor if the teams are jockeying for seeding in the MLB postseason bracket. The Mets and Cubs both hold a head-to-head tiebreaker over the Dodgers if such transpires.
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