There was a circus catch in the outfield, the application of two of MLB’s more obscure rules and the first half of the Knicks’ Eastern Conference Finals Game 2 loss to the Indiana Pacers shown on the scoreboard during a lengthy rain delay Friday night at Citi Field, and even into Saturday morning. The rematch between the Mets and the Los Angeles Dodgers was eventful, to say the least.
It took six hours and 13 innings before the Dodgers would break a 5-5 tie with two runs off right-hander Huascar Brazobán, the last reliever in the bullpen. A leadoff double by Teoscar Hernandez allowed the automatic runner to go ahead. Hyesong Kim then moved him over on a single, and he scored an insurance run on a fly ball by Andy Pages.
The Mets, after a valiant ninth-inning comeback, couldn’t spark another in the bottom of the 13th. They went down in order against right-hander Luis Garcia for a 7-5 loss in the first game of a three-game series.
It looked like it was over for the Mets (30-21) after Jose Butto gave up two runs in the top of the fifth to put the Dodgers up by three. The Los Angeles bullpen blanked the Mets for the next four innings, but Jeff McNeil hit a three-run triple off closer Tanner Scott in the bottom of the ninth, and Tyrone Taylor scored McNeil with an RBI single to send the game into extra innings.
The drama only increased in the top of the 10th when Edwin Diaz loaded the bases with no outs and escaped, with Pete Alonso making a play at the plate and Max Muncy grounding into a double play.
The game was scoreless at the time of the delay, but the Dodgers (32-19) had runners on second and third after a strange play in the outfield.
Former Mets outfielder Michael Conforto led off the inning with a single off right-hander Griffin Canning. With one out, Canning walked Shohei Ohtani. Mookie Betts then hit a fly ball to right-center field, sending Tyrone Taylor and Juan Soto converging. The two collided just as Soto got underneath the ball, and it bounced off the right fielder’s glove. Somehow, Taylor managed to make the barehanded catch for the out and hit the cutoff man.
Ohtani didn’t immediately realize the catch had been made, but Conforto was paying attention, taking off for third as soon as Taylor made the juggle. The Mets challenged the call, saying the runner took off before the catch.
Conforto had it right. The MLB rulebook states that the runner can tag up from the base as soon as the ball is touched. It’s a rule in place to prevent outfielders from trying to juggle the ball on purpose to get a double play. The call on the field was confirmed.
Canning then went 3-1 on Freddie Freeman before the umpires signaled for a delay.
The advantage seemingly went to the Mets, who had a rested bullpen after having Thursday off. The Dodgers pitching staff is extremely depleted at the moment, but that was the case last fall when they eliminated the Mets in six games in the NLCS, and the Yankees in five games in the World Series.
Losing Clayton Kershaw after only 26 pitches was a blow, yet somehow a Dodgers pitching staff held together by bubblegum and duct tape is still stronger than most.
Right-hander Max Kranick took over for Canning and threw a ball to Freeman to load the bases (charged to Canning). While Kranick has been adept at getting out of jams this season, this was one he couldn’t escape.
Will Smith sent a single past a diving Brett Baty at third base, and Francisco Lindor couldn’t get the throw to first in time. Conforto scored easily. Hernandez then smoked a ball to the left side, sending Baty diving again. Ohtani and Freeman scored to put Los Angeles up 3-0.
Brett Baty hit a home run off right-hander Matt Sauer in the bottom of the third, and Muncy, the Dodgers third baseman, was charged with an error and an obstruction call that led to the Mets scoring a run in the fourth.
Starling Marte was thrown out trying to score on a sacrifice fly, with Hernandez’s throw from right field coming home in plenty of time, but he was ruled safe when third base umpire Tripp Gibson determined Muncy had obstructed Marte’s vision. Muncy was the reason Marte was even on base to begin with, botching a throw to first for a two-base error.