Charlie Culberson led off the bottom of the third with a single to center, then was moved into scoring position on Kazmir’s sacrifice bunt. Culberson later stole third base without a throw, but Kendrick struck out to leave him stranded.
Wilmer Flores knocked a leadoff single into right field in the fourth inning and stole second base with two outs. Nothing came of it, however, as Granderson struck out on a pitch low and away.
Two batters after a Turner single in the fourth inning, Trayce Thompson lined a home run that landed a few rows back of the short fence in right field, pulling the Dodgers to within 3-2 of the Mets. A.J. Ellis and Culberson combined for two-out singles, only for Kazmir to strikeout to end the inning.
Kazmir retired the Mets in order in the fifth, marking the first time he’d done so on the night. Matz worked around a two-out walk in the bottom of the fifth to keep the Mets’ 3-2 lead intact. A Flores two-out walk in the sixth was magnified as Kendrick lost his grip on the transfer after fielding a routine grounder.
Kendrick’s error proved costly, with Matz pulling a RBI double inside the third base line. That marked the end of the road for Kazmir, who gave way to Adam Liberatore. He kept the Mets lead to 4-2 by retiring Granderson to end the inning.
Matz struck out Puig and Thompson in the bottom of the sixth en route to retiring the side in order. Cabrera led off the seventh with a double to right-center field, which prompted Dodgers manager Dave Roberts to replace Liberatore with Joe Blanton.
The right-hander intentionally walked Duda with two outs before getting out of the inning unscathed. Hansel Robles faced pinch-hitter Chase Utley, though there wasn’t any revenge sought for Utley’s slide in Game 2 of last year’s NLDS.
Utley grounded out, pinch-hitter Corey Seager struck out, and Hernandez flied out to end another quiet inning from the Dodgers. Louis Coleman struck out the two batters faced in the eighth, then gave way to J.P. Howell, who finished caught Alejandro De Aza stealing after giving up a base hit.
Lagares was unable to make the catch on a shallow fly ball to center, with his putting Gonzalez on first base with one out in the bottom of the eighth. Turner drew a walk in a nine-pitch plate appearance against Antonio Bastardo to put the tying runners on base.
Jim Henderson worked out of the small brush with trouble with a strikeout of Puig and Thompson foul out. Jeurys Familia took over in the bottom of the ninth and converted the save in the Mets’ 4-2 win.
