The New York Mets were the cure for the ailing Los Angeles Dodgers.
In the first game of a Monday doubleheader, the Dodgers rallied from a 2-0 hole to win 5-2. The victory was aided by several Mets errors down the stretch and snapped a five-game losing streak. consecutive games, the franchise’s longest since 2019.
Mookie Betts got the go-ahead run in the top of the tenth inning before Freedie Freeman opened the game with a two-run homer.
The Dodgers had no answers for Mets starter Tylor Megill, who pitched seven outstanding innings, allowing three hits and one walk while striking out nine. But the Mets allowed them to wait long enough to open the game in the 10th.
Late mistake triggers Dodgers rally
The Dodgers finally broke through to the eighth with the help of an inning extension error by Mets third baseman Brett Baty. Reliever Reed Garrett allowed a leadoff single to Jason Heyward. Andy Pages then took his place at first base on a fielder’s choice, bringing the top of the Dodgers’ stacked MVP order to the plate with one out. Mookie Betts grounded into what appeared to be an inning-ending double play.
But Baty fumbled the ball after fielding it and was unable to retrieve it, allowing Betts to reach safely at first and Pages to advance to second. That brought Shohei Ohtani to the plate with two hits and one out, which prompted Mets manager Carlos Mendoza to call left-hander Jake Diekman to the mound.
Diekman also induced a potential double play ball, but gave up just one out when Ohtani ran to first base to beat the throw. Freddie Freeman then released Pages on an RBI single to left field.
The Mets went scoreless in the bottom half of the eighth, and the Dodgers’ middle of the order tied the game in the ninth. With runners on the corners and no outs, Chris Taylor hit a fly ball that scored Teoscar Hernández to tie the game at 2-2.
Taylor reached first base safely to leave runners on first and second with no outs. But a Heyward strikeout and a Pages double ended the inning with no more runs, setting the Mets up for a potential victory.
Mets fail to score after loading bases in ninth
They had a golden opportunity. The Mets loaded the bases with a groundout against reliever Daniel Hudson, but Tyrone Taylor and Jeff McNeil came up, setting up the top of the Dodgers’ order for their 10th-inning heroics.
