NEW YORK — An unexpected day off complete with a free night in New York City thanks to Monday’s rainout was just the remedy the Dodgers needed to shake off the lingering effects of a five-game losing streak and sweep Tuesday’s doubleheader with the New York Mets.
The Dodgers scored five times in the last three innings to take the opener, 5-2 in 10 innings, then rode seven scoreless innings from rookie right-hander Gavin Stone to a 3-0 shutout win in the nightcap.
“A lot of us took that and kind of ran with that one,” Dodgers first baseman Freddie Freeman said of the pause that seemed to refresh. “Being able to get off your feet for a whole day was kind of nice.”
There was no shifting the blame for the five-game losing streak. The offense had been responsible, scoring just 11 runs in the losses (six of them in one game on Friday). A number of hitters stayed and got some work in even after the game was canceled on Monday, Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said. But it was the starting pitching that took the lead in the doubleheader.
“The reason we won both games today was because of our pitching,” Freeman acknowledged. “Tyler and Gavin and the bullpen were absolutely phenomenal today.”
Tyler Glasnow started it with seven innings in the opener, allowing just two hits. One of those, however, was a two-run home run by Francisco Lindor in the second inning.
That left the still-slumbering Dodgers trailing 2-1 in the ninth inning when Teoscar Hernandez and Gavin Lux led off with back-to-back singles, putting runners at the corners for Chris Taylor.
It has been a miserable season for Taylor, who entered Tuesday batting .101 – an average that looks like a typo but sadly isn’t.
Taylor squared to drop a safety squeeze bunt but popped it up toward the pitcher, Adam Ottavino.
“Off the bat, I knew it was kind of right at him and I bunted it harder than I wanted to,” Taylor said. “He’s not an easy guy to bunt against. But yeah, I was just hoping it got down and he’d misplay it.”
Ottavino did. Unable to get to it in the air, he didn’t field it cleanly off the grass either and the tying run scored – a rare positive contribution for Taylor this season.
“Yeah, that’s all I’m trying to do right now, is help this team,” Taylor said. “I’m trying to put myself aside and take some of the pressure off myself by helping the team as much as I can.”
It almost went for naught when Daniel Hudson loaded the bases with one out in the bottom of the ninth. But he got back-to-back pop outs to send the game into extra innings, holding his index finger to his lips in a “shhhh” sign as he left the mound.
“You know, it was getting loud, so just reminding them,” Hudson said later of the gesture.
“We’ve been grinding, and then the boys battled back. Had some adrenaline there in the ninth inning. I was just trying to fight because I hadn’t pitched in eight days. But yeah – was just telling them, ‘Hey, we’re the Dodgers. We’re good.’”
They looked like it in the 10th. Mookie Betts led off with an RBI single, driving in the free runner to give the Dodgers their first lead since Friday in Cincinnati. Freeman followed with a two-run home run.
“I think that was huge,” Betts said of Hudson’s escape. “Then I was fortunate enough to get a base hit up the middle which created some momentum there then Freddie’s homer I think kind of sealed the deal.
“We finally got some momentum on our side.”
It continued in the second game.
Filling in at DH with Shohei Ohtani resting his bruised hamstring, Will Smith lined a solo home run into the left field seats in the first inning, sending Stone to the mound with a lead. In the second, Andy Pages led off with a bloop single and scored on Miguel Rojas’ double to the wall in center field.
The offense went back into hibernation after that, stirring only on a solo home run by Miguel Vargas in the sixth inning.
Stone didn’t need much against the reeling Mets. He announced his presence with authority, striking out the side in the first inning the strolled through the Mets’ lineup like a tourist in Central Park – without the fear of getting mugged.
The Mets, who have lost seven of eight and are just 10-24 since April 21, had harmless two-out singles in the second and third innings then Stone retired 10 in a row before allowing another single in the seventh.
“Gavin was fantastic. He really was,” Roberts said. “(The Mets) didn’t threaten at all. Got a lot of quick outs, swing and miss. His command with the fastball at the bottom of the zone was good all night long. Mixed in a lot of good changeups.”
Alex Vesia got the final six outs to finish off the combined three-hit shutout.
“That first one, they sort of gave it to us on the defensive side, but we’ll take it,” Roberts said. “We got some hits when we needed to. And (in the second game), we sort of had the game in hand because of the way Gavin pitched. But yeah, to get back to our winning ways was a good thing. Now, we have a chance to get greedy.”
