LOS ANGELES – Cody Bellinger not only slugged home run No. 20 Tuesday night on an 0-2 breaking pitch from Steven Matz in the third inning of the Dodgers’ 7-3 loss to the Mets, he had the Mets thinking the unthinkable.

After the Mets had taken a 5-1 lead in the top of the seventh inning, the Dodgers scored a run in the bottom of the inning, had two outs with runners on first and second and Bellinger coming up. And the Mets considered intentionally walking Bellinger, which would have loaded the bases and put the tying run on.

“[Bench coach Jim Riggleman] and I were talking about it, with [Russell] Martin on deck, do we want to walk this guy?” said Mets manager Mickey Callaway. “I mean, that's how good things are going for him. We were considering loading the bases to face a guy. That would have been hard to do, but we considered it.”

Callaway then explained why, instead, he let reliever Robert Gsellman get Bellinger to end the inning with a flyout to left field.

"We'd be putting more and more guys on,” Callaway said. “You already have a lead. Sometimes, you've just got to let guys do their job. But just the fact that we considered it shows a lot of respect to Bellinger and what he's done, and the hitter he is."

Bellinger, who also homered on Monday night, followed a two-out walk to David Freese with a 411-foot blast into the right-field pavilion to join Gil Hodges (1951) as the only Dodgers with at least 20 homers in the first 55 games. Hodges had 21.

“It’s must-watch TV,” starting pitcher Rich Hill said of Bellinger. “Any time he comes up to the plate, everybody pauses what they’re doing and takes a moment to watch that at-bat. He’s putting together a tremendous season offensively and defensively. He’s not only a true front-runner for MVP of the National League, but the MVP in this locker room. The way he handles himself and prepares every day is just like a real pro should.”

It was Bellinger’s seventh home run off a left-handed pitcher this season. For the entire 2018 season, Bellinger hit 25 home runs, six off lefties. He is one behind Christian Yelich for the MLB lead in home runs.

Bellinger also became the only Dodger with three 20-homer seasons before the age of 24.

Bellinger finished the game 1-for-3 with a walk. He leads MLB with a .382 batting average, 73 hits, a .469 on-base percentage, .770 slugging percentage, 1.239 OPS, 49 runs, 59 runs created, 147 total bases, 51 RBIs and 107 times on base.

“Just the way he’s getting his ‘A’ swing off, time and time again, he’s locked in,” said manager Dave Roberts.

Will Smith a co-star

Dodgers catcher Will Smith, promoted a day earlier, made his Major League debut a memorable one in his first start with a single in his first at-bat, a double and he threw out a runner trying to steal second base.

“You would have never guessed, watching him, that it was his first Major League game,” said Roberts.

“He was tremendous,” added Hill. “He was a true pro. Handled the game great, pitch calling was excellent and that throw in the sixth inning was great.”