New York Mets owner Steve Cohen famously claimed he wanted to turn the club into the East Coast version of the Los Angeles Dodgers when he took over the team. Unfortunately for Cohen and the team’s fan base, that goal remains far away from reality.
The Mets couldn’t make it happen against the defending-champion Dodgers Saturday night in Queens, losing 4-3 despite another strong outing from starting pitcher Nolan McLean as the team inches closer to selling at MLB’s August 3 trade deadline.
Tyrone Taylor
came through in the eighth inning with a pinch-hit two-run double to cut the deficit, but New York was once again unable to get over the hump. Taylor’s clutch hit made an ugly third inning from the Mets defense even harder to swallow.
McLean cruised through the first two innings with efficiency, but the relentless Dodgers lineup put pressure on the Mets in the game-deciding third inning. Kyle Tucker bashed a home run off the right-field foul pole, snapping a streak of 19 consecutive innings without an earned run by McLean. Dalton Rushing singled before Shohei Ohtani hit a double-play ball that the Mets couldn’t handle. Brett Baty’s throw to second bounced off Rushing’s helmet, allowing Rushing to advance to third, and Ohtani to reach first safely.
Lindor was charged with the error after failing to snag the ball after it bounced off Rushing. Andy Pages hit another double-play ball that the Mets once again couldn’t turn, allowing Rushing to score. A passed ball from Francisco Alvarez then scored Pages and put the Dodgers up 3-0. Max Muncy struck out to mercifully end the hideous frame.
Starting pitcher Yoshinobu Yamamoto pitched six innings with five strikeouts to boost the Dodgers. Yamamoto’s good start and Tucker’s dinger added insult to injury, as both players were high-profile free agent targets for the Mets in recent years before both picked the Dodgers. Tucker has had a disappointing first season in Los Angeles, but seems to be trending up this weekend, homering for the second straight game against the Orange and Blue.
The Dodgers added on in the fifth inning with some well-placed hits. Teoscar Hernandez put in a ball just out of the reach of the diving Carson Benge, with the ball bouncing away from the rookie, allowing Hernandez to advance to second. Pages singled down the right-field line to score Hernandez.
McLean was solid overall, registering his fifth quality start in a row with seven strikeouts. The infield defense and Alvarez’s passed ball made him work hard. However, an unassisted double play by Lindor in the sixth inning helped seal McLean’s line.
The Mets entered the game going 7-for-72 with RISP over their last 10 games, and that trend continued for most of Saturday night. New York briefly threatened in the first inning with two outs. Bo Bichette and Benge each singled off Yamamoto, but Luis Robert Jr. struck out swinging on a full count to end the inning.
With two outs in the fifth inning, Bichette poked a broken-bat single to score Baty from third, putting the Mets on the board. The team had been 0-for-5 with RISP in the game before Bichette’s hit.
New York had life in the eighth inning against Dodgers reliever Edgardo Henriquez after he hit Benge with a pitch and walked Robert Jr. with no outs. Henriquez struck out Jorge Polanco and Marcus Semien before being replaced by Tanner Scott. Mets interim manager Andy Green pinch-hit Taylor for Baty, who smoked a ball down the left-field line off Scott to score Benge and Robert Jr. Scott settled down to strike out AJ Ewing and end the threat.
Lindor, Bichette, and Benge went down in order in the bottom of the ninth as the Mets fell to 43-62 on the season. The Mets are 7-12 in July as this bleak season trudges along through the dog days of summer.
New York will try again in Sunday’s series finale at 1:40 PM EDT.
SB Nation GameThreads
Box scores
Win Probability Added
Big Mets winner: Tyrone Taylor, +18% WPA
Big Mets loser: AJ Ewing -23% WPA
Mets pitchers: -11% WPA
Mets hitters: -39% WPA
Teh aw3s0mest play: Tyrone Taylor double, +17.6% WPA
Teh sux0rest play: Kyle Tucker home run, +11.9% WPA
