Nolan McLean and Yoshinobu Yamamoto went toe-to-toe in a pitchers duel that ultimately swung in favor of the Los Angeles Dodgers in the eighth inning.
They were lifted to a seventh comeback win of the season thanks in part to Kyle Tucker delivering a go-ahead hit. Tucker has been mired in a slow start to the season but refuted the notion that it’s a result of trying to do too much in his first year with the team.
Dodgers 2, Mets 1: key takeaways
Nolan McLean and Yoshinobu Yamamoto duel
Francisco Lindor sent the third pitch of the game into the pavilion in right field for his first home run and RBI of the season. Lindor’s home run also snapped the Mets’ scoreless drought at 20 innings, which included back-to-back shutout losses. New York had also gone without an extra-base hit since this past Saturday.
Yamamoto responded to the leadoff home run by retiring the next 20 batters faced. That was broken up by Bo Bichette on a two-out double in the seventh inning that landed just fair down the left-field line.
Similarly, the Dodgers struck early against McLean before he settled in. Kyle Tucker’s one-out walk was followed by a double from Will Smith, and Freddie Freeman’s soft grounder to first base that may have rolled foul was instead fielded by Mark Vientos for an out that nevertheless allowed the tying run to score.
McLean then retired 14 batters in a row before walking Hyeseong Kim with two outs in the bottom of the fifth. Kim moved into scoring position on McLean’s throwing error on a pickoff attempt, only to be stranded by Alex Freeland.
Yamamoto pitched a season-high 7.2 innings to McLean’s seven. They both exited with just one run allowed, though Yamamoto required some help from Blake Treinen.
Dodgers bullpen answers bell
Yamamoto remained in the game to start the eighth inning but was removed after allowing back-to-back singles with two outs. Treinen struck out Luis Robert Jr., to end the inning, and Alex Vesia struck out the side in the ninth for his second save of the season.
That was a somewhat curious decision considering Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said Edwin Díaz was available to face the Mets.
Shohei Ohtani’s streak
Shohei Ohtani nearly had his 47-game on-base streak snapped but it was extended on an intentional walk in the eighth inning. He nevertheless is 0-for-7 with one strikeout and one walk since being hit by a pitch in the back of his right shoulder.
Roberts said the plan remains for Ohtani to make his pitching start on Wednesday.
Kyle Tucker’s slump
Tucker went into Tuesday’s game striking out a 23.9% rate, making less contact (75%) and swinging at the first pitch more often (58.2%) than career norms.
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