Dodgers Postgame: L.A. Falls to deGrom and Mets in Speedy Pitchers Duel
Tyler Anderson was outstanding for the Dodgers, but Jacob deGrom was slightly more outstanding for the Mets as New York defeated Los Angeles, 2-1, in a fast-paced pitchers duel. The Dodgers and Mets have split the first two games of the series and the first six games of the season series in this potential postseason preview.
Anderson and deGrom each went seven innings, and each allowed one home run to account for all the runs in the game. The difference in the game is that the homer Anderson allowed came with a runner on base.
Anderson falls to 13-3 while lowering his ERA to 2.68.
Anderson stumbles in the third
Anderson was cruising along through 2.2 innings, having allowed just one hit on 28 pitches. Then he hit the second time through the order, and the Mets apparently had a plan. Anderson allowed four straight hits, the second of which was a two-run homer to Starling Marte.
After singles by Francisco Lindor and Pete Alonso, Anderson got Darin Ruf to pop out to shallow right field, but with Jacob deGrom on the mound for the Mets, a two-run deficit felt — and ended up being — huge.
Mookie confirms deGrom’s mortality
Through five innings, the Dodgers had just two baserunners against deGrom, a walk by Trea Turner in the first and a single by Justin Turner in the fifth.
But with one out in the sixth, Mookie got a 94-mph slider over the middle of the plate and hit it 415 feet into the left-field bleachers to cut the Mets’ lead in half. It was Mookie’s 32nd homer of the year, tying his career high.
Can't stop Mookie. pic.twitter.com/uv03wGvGMw
— Los Angeles Dodgers (@Dodgers) September 1, 2022
Freddie Freeman had a line drive single later in the inning, and Will Smith hit a fly out to the warning track to end the inning after striking out his first two times up.
Between the solid contact and the 19-pitch inning to push deGrom’s pitch count up to 80, it started to feel like the Dodgers might be able to break through against a guy who had looked unhittable earlier in the game.
Nimmo steals the momentum back
In the top of the seventh, Justin Turner came very close to tying the game up, driving a 100-mph fastball 410 feet just to the right of dead center. If it had been 411 feet, the game would have been tied, but Brandon Nimmo made an outstanding catch to rob JT of a home run.
NimmOMG! pic.twitter.com/R6ciQkKXGg
— MLB (@MLB) September 1, 2022
That ended up being the last threat the Dodgers would put up, as deGrom, Adam Ottavino, and Edwin Diaz combined to retire the final seven batters after the robbery.
Up next
The Dodgers and Mets wrap up their series at 1:10 pm PT on Thursday. Clayton Kershaw makes his return from the injured list for the Dodgers, with right-hander Chris Bassitt going for the Mets.
