National League Cy Young Award candidates Jacob deGrom and Hyun-Jin Ryu went toe-to-toe Saturday night at Citi Field, with the game ultimately swinging on the Los Angeles Dodgers bullpen putting runners on in the eighth inning of a 3-0 loss to the New York Mets.
The defeat was the Dodgers’ first at Citi Field since 2016, which snapped a streak of nine consecutive victories. It trailed only the Washington Nationals, who won 12 games in a row at the Mets’ home ballpark during the 2013-14 seasons.
Although Ryu had long been considered the Cy Young favorite, his struggles of late opened the door for deGrom and others. The Mets’ right-hander, who won the award last season, added to his case to repeat by firing seven shutout innings.
Both teams only had two baserunners each through five frames, with the Dodgers’ coming on a single and hit by pitch. After grazing A.J. Pollock with a fastball to put two on with one out in the second inning, deGrom retired 16 batters in a row.
The string was snapped by Corey Seager’s two-out single in the seventh, which was followed by a base hit from Pollock. deGrom worked out of the small jam by striking out Gavin Lux.
While deGrom was overpowering the Dodgers, Ryu was pitching with improved command and sequencing. He scattered two hits and retired 13 in a row to match deGrom’s seven scoreless innings in an outing that was reminiscent of a dominant run through July.
The Mets’ best chance at breaking the scoreless tie came on Todd Frazier’s drive in the fifth inning that was caught on the warning track in center field.
A battle of the bullpens went in favor of the Mets as Joe Kelly and Julio Urias combined to allow them to load the bases in the eighth inning without a single hit. Adam Kolarek retired his only batter faced, which Kelly followed by having his first pitch hit Frazier in the wrist.
Upon entering with two outs, Urias promptly hit Brandon Nimmo to put two on. Urias then walked Ahmed Rosario before allowing a bases-clearing double to pinch-hitter Rajai Davis that held as the difference.
