The Dodgers on Tuesday got back in the win column with a pair of victories over the Mets at Citi Field. Monday’s game was rained out, leaving the teams to play a doubleheader the following day.
Los Angeles’ offense sputtered through most of the first game, but they managed to pull out a 5-2 win in extra innings after plating all five runs in the final three frames.
In Game 2 they took an early 1-0 lead on a Will Smith home run and never looked back en route to a 3-0 victory.
Here are our takeaways from the twin bill in New York:
1. Losing skid snapped
The Dodgers looked dreadful entering Tuesday. They’d lost five consecutive games and their solutions didn’t appear to be plentiful. Alas, they found a way to battle through some offensive woes to find enough runs behind a couple of stellar pitching performances to get back in the win column for the first time since May 20.
2. Tyler Glasnow comes through
LA badly needed a great start from Glasnow to take some of the pressure off of their scuffling offense. He delivered with 7.0 innings of two-hit, two-run ball with four walks and eight strikeouts. Glasnow received zero run support during his seven innings so he was saddled with a no-decision. His effort kept LA in the game though and gave their offense a chance to tie the game with single runs in the eighth and ninth before breaking out with three in the 10th to win it.
3. Freddie also comes through
Hitting with runners in scoring position was a huge problem for the Dodgers entering Tuesday’s games. One of the players having the roughest go in those spots was Freddie Freeman, who entered Tuesday 1-8 in those spots across LA’s five-game losing streak. He got a couple of big knocks in the Game 1 win though. The first opened the scoring for the Dodgers when he drove home Andy Pages from third to cut New York’s lead to 2-1. Then in the 10th he blasted a two-run home run to push the Dodgers lead to 5-2 after Mookie Betts gave them the lead with an RBI single. It was only a matter of time before Freeman started getting timely hits again, and he came through with two big ones Tuesday.
4. RISP still a problem overall
Speaking of the RISP thing, the Dodgers were 6-for-47 entering Tuesday’s game in those spots during their losing skid. They started Tuesday 0-for-6, but a couple of Mets miscues in the eighth inning gave them life. The Dodgers took advantage and went 3-for-5 with runners in scoring position after their 0-for-6 start to finish 3-for-11. Ideally seeing a couple of hits fall would’ve helped in Game 2, but LA finished the second game 0-for-8 with RISP, leaving them at 3-for-19 for the day and a putrid 9-for-66 (.136) over their last seven games. Timely hits helped in Game 1, and they scraped together enough offense to snag a win in Game 2, but this is still a clear problem for the Dodgers.
5. No Shohei? No problem
Shohei Ohtani didn’t play in the Dodgers’ second game Tuesday. He’s been nursing a hamstring contusion so it makes sense that he sat out the second game of the doubleheader. However, a day off might have been necessary given some of Ohtani’s recent struggles at the plate. Since May 15 he’s hitting just .213 with one home run, three walks and 12 strikeouts. In Game 1 on Tuesday he went 0-for-5 with two Ks. There is every reason to believe the reigning MVP will get back on track at the dish eventually. For now though a game off was probably for the best.
6. Gavin Stone keeps rolling
Stone has been really, really good lately. After scuffling a bit out of the gate, he’s put together six strong starts in a row, including another one Tuesday night at Citi Field. Stone kept the Mets at arm’s length while the Dodgers offense chipped away one run at a time. He tossed 7.0 shutout innings while striking out seven and surrendering only three hits. Stone’s ERA is down to 3.16 after giving up just eight runs across 39 innings in his last six starts.
7. Welcome back, Vargas
Miguel Vargas in Game 2 smacked a solo home run with two out in the top of the sixth that pushed LA’s lead to 3-0. It was his first long ball of the season and his first since June 21 of last year when he hit a solo homer in a 2-0 Dodgers win over the Angels. It was only his second hit in 10 at-bats since being called up a couple weeks ago. LA badly needs some offensive juice and Vargas helped provide it Tuesday afternoon. He should get a chance at more consistent ABs moving forward.
