Conforto's first career slam lifts Mets in LA

LOS ANGELES -- Rajai Davis had his moment, and Aaron Altherr, too. Adeiny Hechavarria and Carlos Gomez enjoyed a few choice thrills over the past week as the Mets increasingly relied on a cadre of position players who did not crack their Opening Day roster.

The Mets rode that wave for as long as they could, full well knowing they would eventually need contributions from their sidelined regulars. So when Michael Conforto crushed a go-ahead grand slam in his third game back from the injured list Tuesday, leading the Mets to a 7-3 win over the Dodgers at Chavez Ravine, the Mets were thrilled as much for the future implications as for what it meant in the present: a boost back to .500, two games into a challenging West Coast swing.

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“When you put a guy like Conforto in there, it changes the whole dynamic,” manager Mickey Callaway said.

For the second straight night at Dodger Stadium, both starting pitchers -- this time, Steven Matz and Rich Hill -- pitched well, but were gone by the seventh inning. The Mets immediately capitalized on Hill’s departure, drawing consecutive walks to open the seventh and loading the bases on a Dylan Floro error. That brought up Conforto, who had already singled home a run on an infield hit, which in turn prompted the Dodgers to counter with lefty specialist Scott Alexander.

As Alexander warmed, Conforto wandered back toward the visiting dugout, where injured teammate Robinson Cano offered him a quick scouting report: Expect a steady diet of sinkers from a pitcher looking to induce a double play.

Conforto called it “good advice,” as well he should. The lefty specialist’s second pitch was a thigh-high sinker that Conforto bashed the other way, sending it 374 feet over the left-field fence for his first career grand slam.

“I wasn’t looking for the grand slam,” Conforto said. “I was just looking to bring a run home, put us in the lead. That’s probably the approach you need to take.”

The home run gave Conforto 10 on the season, putting him on pace for exactly 30 -- a benchmark he likely would have achieved in 2017 had he not hurt his shoulder, and that he could have reached last season if he weren’t still recovering from that injury in the first half.

Understanding Conforto is capable of such upside, the Mets missed him for the nine games he was sidelined with a concussion. At one point last week, the Mets were playing without Cano, Conforto and two other starting outfielders in Jeff McNeil and Brandon Nimmo -- the latter two of whom are still on the injured list. They’ve received production from several of their newcomers, as well as from Todd Frazier, who homered and doubled Monday. Yet it was clear the Mets needed a healthy Conforto.

“Just being out of the lineup and sidelined for a little bit, there have been some ups and downs,” Conforto said. “But these guys have always been full energy. This is a great group of guys.”

Cooling off Bellinger

Even after Conforto’s slam, the game’s outcome remained uncertain. Half an inning later, the Dodgers greeted reliever Robert Gsellman with a double and a walk. Gsellman recovered to strike out the next two batters, but he allowed an RBI single to bring the tying run to the plate in the form of MVP frontrunner Cody Bellinger.

In the visiting dugout, Callaway briefly considered intentionally walking Bellinger, who clubbed his 20th homer earlier in the game. Instead, Callaway went the conventional route and Gsellman vindicated his decision, inducing a popup to shallow left field.

“That was a big one,” Callaway said. “For him to go out and make pitches like that against him -- he executed every pitch -- and get that flyout is huge.”

"The best I’ve ever seen [Matz]"

Outside of Bellinger’s home run on a hanging, 0-2 breaking ball, Matz was pristine, limiting the Dodgers to three other hits in six innings. In three starts since returning from the disabled list on May 18, Matz has posted a 2.87 ERA.

“Not one ounce of emotion,” Callaway said. “You could tell he was locked in. From pitch one, he had a different look on his face. That’s just by far the best I’ve ever seen him.”

Among Matz’s foremost contributions was his work on the basepaths. In the fifth, Matz legged out an infield hit, moved to second on an Amed Rosario single, sprinted to third on a fly ball to Bellinger and scored on Conforto’s swinging bunt.

“Even when he hits a ground ball to second, he runs full-speed to first,” Callaway said. “Pitchers don’t do that. That’s who Matz is. You can’t tell him to pull back because that just wouldn’t work for him.”