The Los Angeles Dodgers withstood a no-hit bid by Justin Verlander and eventually took advantage of his shaky command to start the second half of their schedule with a 6-0 win over the New York Mets.
Verlander walked two batters in the first inning and one in the second before the free passes ultimately cost him in the fifth. Verlander worked himself into trouble by walking Jason Heyward, James Outman and Miguel Rojas to load the bases with one out.
Mookie Betts, who entered the night a career 0-for-16 against Verlander in the regular season and had already been retired once, hit a sinking line drive to left field that Mark Canha could not come up with.
Betts’ RBI single broke up Verlander’s no-hitter and gave the Dodgers a lead. Freddie Freeman added onto it by following with a two-run double. Freeman leads the Majors with 32 doubles this season.
Those were the only runs and hits the Dodgers had off Verlander, who finished with six strikeouts and a season-high six walks over five innings. It was only the second time Verlander had ever walked six batters, and it fell one shy of matching a career high set with the Detroit Tigers in 2006.
The Dodgers added onto their lead when Miguel Rojas hit an RBI single off David Petersen with two outs in the sixth inning. Rojas has an RBI in four of his last six games.
That was more than enough for Julio Urías, who held the Mets scoreless over six innings. Brandon Nimmo was initially given a leadoff home run in the bottom of the first, but the Dodgers successfully challenged the call to get it overturned to a double.
Urías proceeded to retire nine batters in a row before the streak was snapped when Starling Marte was hit by a pitch with two outs in the fourth inning. The Dodgers were unsuccessful in challenging that call.
The only Mets baserunners against Urías after Nimmo’s double came via walk, catcher’s interference and the hit by pitch. Urías lowered his career ERA in the second half to 1.75, which is best all-time in MLB history among pitchers with at least 230 innings after the All-Star break.
Yency Almonte, Caleb Ferguson and Ryan Brasier each threw one inning to finish off the shoutout win.
J.D. Martinez provided more cushion with a solo home run in the eighth inning. That also gave Martinez a home run in his last three games, and four of the past five. Will Smith grounded into a force out with the bases loaded in the ninth.
Dodgers standings update
With their win and the Arizona Diamondbacks losing to the Toronto Blue Jays, the Dodgers took sole possession of first place in the National League West standings. They now are one game ahead of the Diamondbacks in the division.
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