The Mets were defeated by the Los Angeles Dodgers 6-0 in the series opener on Friday night at Citi Field.
Here are some takeaways…
– Justin Verlander got the start in the second-half opener and the Dodgers made him work early and often. The righty threw 23 pitches and issued a pair of walks in the first, but he was able to strike out JD Martinez to get out of the inning unscathed.
– The Mets wasted an opportunity of their own in the bottom half of the inning. After Brandon Nimmo missed a homer by a matter of inches and had to settle for a double, two strikeouts and a Starling Marte flyout helped Dodgers starter Julio Urias escape unharmed.
– Verlander settled in after that, as he worked around a two-out walk in the second and then put together his first clean inning in the third, keeping the Dodgers hitless their first time through the order. He continued cruising in the fourth, picking up two more strikeouts.
Mark Canha made a nice sliding catch on a shallow pop-up leading off the fifth to help keep the no-hit bid intact. After that though, the wheels started to fall off.
Verlander walked the bottom three hitters in the lineup to load the bases to bring up the top of the order. A Mookie Betts single followed by a Freddie Freeman a two-run double gave LA the first runs of the game and put them in front 3-0.
Verlander rebounded to get a strikeout and groundout to escape the inning without further damage. After a great start to the night, he was booed off the Citi Field mound to end his outing. The righty allowed three runs on two hits while striking out six and walking a season-high six over just five innings.
– Unfortunately for Verlander and the Mets, Urias was pitching that much better. The lefty held a relatively lifeless Mets offense to just one hit, one walk, and a catcher’s interference while striking out seven over six strong innings.
– David Peterson made his first relief appearance of the season behind Verlander, and he allowed a run on a walk and back-to-back two-out hits in his only inning of work.
– After Trevor Gott tossed a scoreless inning, and the Mets went down relatively easily again, Martinez extended the Dodgers lead with an opposite-field home run into the bullpen off Dominic Leone.
– Drew Smith loaded the bases twice and allowed a run on a fielder’s choice. The Mets offense went down quietly in the bottom of the ninth to fall in the second-half opener 6-0.
– New York didn’t have a hit from the first batter on, finishing 1-for-28 at the plate. They weren’t much better on the mound, walking a season-high nine batters in nine innings.
Highlights
What’s next
The Mets and Dodgers continue their weekend series with the second of this three-game set on Saturday night at Citi Field.
Kodai Senga (7-5, 3.31 ERA) takes the ball for New York against right-hander Tony Gonsolin (5-3, 3.86 ERA) at 7:15 pm