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The Dodgers are the kings in Queens tonight. They defeated the Mets on Friday night, 9-2, in the series opener.
Although they were initially down by a run, they came out to play in the fourth inning. The bats were efficient and hot, brining in nine runs on 11 hits and three walks. The team went 4-for-5 with runners in scoring position and stranded five runners on base.
Rookies had a particularly good night, with Gavin Lux and Edwin Ríos each homering in the victory. Overall, Lux went 2-for-4 with three RBIs from his homer and Ríos’s only at-bat resulted in this 2-run dinger.
The Dodgers are the only NL team this year with at least six rookies to hit multiple homers: Smith (13), Verdugo (12), Beaty (9), Garlick (3), Rios (3), Lux (2) https://t.co/dDr6PY1GQU
— Dodger Insider (@DodgerInsider) September 14, 2019
Of course, they weren’t the only players to find success in the batter’s box. MVP candidate Cody Bellinger had a pair of hits and contributed one RBI to the win, along with AJ Pollock. Chris Taylor also got in on the action, knocking in two runs with a double in the fourth inning.
The playoff-level team got a piece of all the Mets pitchers, earning at least one run off of all four of them. Noah Syndergaard got the biggest shake down, since the Dodgers brought in a total of four runs off him.
As for the Dodgers pitching, although they did get into some sticky situations, they limited the Mets to just two runs.
Clayton Kershaw gave up a home run to J.D. Davis in the first inning, but he almost made it the whole rest of the way through his outing without incident. Keyword: almost. He cruised through the next five innings, only allowing two base runners to reach during this time.
He handed the game off to Joe Kelly in a less-than-ideal situation. The bases were loaded and there was only one out. Luckily, Kelly is an elite reliever, so he got out of the situation with minimal damage. He allowed a base hit to the second batter he faced to allow one run, but that’s all he was dinged for. This one run he allowed was not credited to him, but to Kershaw.
Casey Sadler and Josh Sborz came in to pitch the eighth and ninth innings, respectively, and didn’t allow a hit or a run.
Friday particulars
WP: Clayton Kershaw (14-5), 6 1⁄3 IP, 4 H, 2 ER, 3 BB, 5 K, 1 HR
LP: Noah Syndergaard (10-8), 5.0 IP, 5 H, 4 ER, 2 BB, 4 K, 1 HR
Home runs: Gavin Lux (2), Edwin Rios (3), J.D. Davis (19)
Up next
The Dodgers try to take the series against the Mets on Saturday with a 4:10 p.m. PT start time. Hyun-Jin Ryu is on the mound to face Jacob deGrom.