The Los Angeles Dodgers were quiet through much of another playoff-like atmosphere at Citi Field, but Jedd Gyorko led a rally in the late innings for a 3-2 win to take the three-game series from New York Mets. As a result L.A. finished 4-2 on their road trip.
Like in the first two games of the weekend series, starting pitching took center stage, which went in favor of Zack Wheeler and the Mets. The right-hander entered with a 1.50 ERA in his last three starts despite opponents batting .300 during that span.
Wheeler retired the first six batters faced before allowing a leadoff double to Gavin Lux in the third inning. He stranded Lux but couldn’t do the same in the fourth when Max Muncy started the inning with a base hit. He later came around to score on Corey Seager’s two-out single.
That cut the Dodgers’ deficit in half but was the only run Wheeler allowed over seven innings. When Joc Pederson led off the sixth inning with a double, Wheeler responded to strike out the next three batters. L.A. then failed to capitalize on base hits from Seager and Lux in the seventh inning.
Wheeler’s nine strikeouts contributed to the Dodgers going 1-for-10 when getting runners in scoring position against him.
Walker Buehler was not sharp out of the gate as he was pitching on regular rest and for the first time since helping the Dodgers clinch a seventh consecutive National League West title.
Buehler worked around a leadoff walk in the first inning, but a one-out walk of Robinson Cano in the second led to trouble. After a J.D. Davis single, Brandon Nimmo hit the chalk down the right-field line for a two-run triple.
Despite his shaky beginning, Buehler finished his start by retiring the final 11 batters faced. He only pitched five innings as part of Dodgers manager Dave Roberts’ predetermined plan to get a stable of relief pitchers into the game.
Pedro Baez worked a clean sixth inning, Dustin May stranded a single and hit batter in the seventh, and Kenley Jansen was dominant in the eighth. That kept the Dodgers’ deficit at 2-1, which loomed large in their comeback efforts.
The rally started on a Jedd Gyorko leadoff walk in the eighth inning but was truly carried by Justin Wilson’s balk and wild pitch. Chris Taylor’s RBI double to center field tied the game with one out.
Kiké Hernandez’s double in the ninth inning later led to Gyorko’s go-ahead RBI single off Seth Lugo, who was pitching on back-to-back nights.
Adam Kolarek retired his only batter faced to start the ninth inning, and Kenta Maeda then took over to convert the save opportunity.
