LOS ANGELES -- The Dodgers have assembled one of the best records in baseball, thanks to the versatility of their roster. The Mets had been on the losing end against the Dodgers’ deep roster six times this season, entering Sunday afternoon.
However, with their nine-game winning streak on the line, the Dodgers couldn’t overcome the Mets’ pitching staff in a 7-2 loss at Dodger Stadium in the season series finale. This was Los Angeles’ first loss to the Mets this season, and only its fifth since the start of 2017.
The Mets jumped on David Price in the first inning with three runs on three hits. After permitting a leadoff walk to Brandon Nimmo, Price battled the rest of the inning. His command lacked efficiency as Javier Báez (double), J.D. Davis (single) and Jonathan Villar (single) took advantage of his offspeed pitches to give the Mets a 3-0 lead.
“I got hurt on leading off the game with a walk. [That’s] never good,” said Price. “Starting the game in that fashion, that's how runs get scored. I got hurt on the changeup by Báez, the backdoor cutter by J.D. Davis that he hit through the four-hole. I made a good pitch to Villar, he just got some weak contact and he found some grass in the outfield.”
Price, who struck out four, walked two and allowed three hits, kept the Mets off the board the rest of the way. The lineup couldn’t back him up, however.
The Dodgers had outscored New York 48-20 in the six other matchups this season, but that spark was missing in the first handful of innings. The fourth inning brought the only runs Los Angeles mustered, and marked a highlight for Cody Bellinger.
Injuries have forced Bellinger to miss a significant amount of time and his production has suffered as a result. The 26-year-old is batting .174 on the season, and .161 with runners in scoring position.
With the bases loaded in the bottom of the fourth and two outs, Bellinger pulled a first-pitch slider from Marcus Stroman and lined it to right field to plate Corey Seager and Chris Taylor. The hit, Bellinger’s first since Tuesday, had an exit velocity of 101.5 mph, per Statcast.
“I thought, early, we took really good at-bats off Stroman and hit some balls hard, [but] just right at guys,” said manager Dave Roberts. “Then he settled in and got some quick outs. After that the ’pen came in and kept us quiet. But early on, I thought we were good, and we thought we were going to break through, but just couldn't find a way to get some baserunners and put some points on the board.”
Following the fourth inning, Los Angeles only had one baserunner with AJ Pollock’s double in the seventh. The bottom third of the Dodgers’ lineup accounted for three of the team’s five hits as Los Angeles went 1-for-4 with runners in scoring position.
“We're playing good baseball. Something like today, we'll just throw it out,” said Pollock, who went 1-for-2. “We played awful and obviously we didn't come in and take care of business, but we just [need to] get back at it. Just keep the train moving.”
With the loss and the Giants' win over the A’s, the Dodgers slid to 2 1/2 games back in the National League West. But Los Angeles has picked up ground in the West since it started its win streak back in New York. No longer five games back of first place like they were on Aug.13, the Dodgers head to San Diego for a three-game series starting Tuesday against the third-place Padres, against whom they have a 3-7 record this season. When the Padres swept the Dodgers in San Diego from June 21 to 23, the NL West was a three-team race, but the Friars now sit in third place, 13 games back of the Giants.
"If you look back at where both teams were at and how both teams were playing, I like the way we're playing,” Roberts said. “I watch those guys from afar. They're in fight mode, just like we are. They've got the best of us this year, so we're going to go into their place and we’ve got to play good baseball to beat them.”