Mets have no answer for Ohtani and Dodgers, Devin Williams implodes in club's 8th straight loss
Dodgers starting pitcher Shohei Ohtani adjusts his hat as he walks off the field after the third inning against the Mets on Wednesday in Los Angeles. Credit: AP/Jae C. Hong
LOS ANGELES — Mets owner Steve Cohen declared his optimism loudly late Tuesday night.
“Nobody likes to lose but I saw some green shoots tonight,” he tweeted after the Mets dropped their seventh in a row, using a term meant to indicate signs of an economic upturn.
“Hang in there, fans, we will turn this around!”
Hang in there longer, fans. The Mets did not turn it around.
Not even close.
Instead, they wilted against Shohei Ohtani, losing 8-2 at Dodger Stadium for their eighth straight loss Wednesday as the Dodgers completed the sweep. That matches their longest losing streak of last year. The offense has managed just three runs over the past four games, hitting .137 in that span.
“I don’t really wrap my mind around it," Bo Bichette said. "It’s tough right now. Everybody’s upset . . . I don’t really have much to say other than I can’t explain it and we’ll keep on working and figure it out.”
The Dodgers, meanwhile, scored five runs in the eighth alone off Devin Williams and Austin Warren. The Mets scored their final run in the ninth, on Marcus Semien's RBI single.
That potent offense wasted little time getting to Clay Holmes, who was nicked by the bottom of the order in the second. With two outs, Dalton Rushing doubled past a diving Brett Baty to right and the next batter, Hyeseong Kim, crushed a sinker that stayed up in the zone, driving it 372 feet to right to give them the 2-0 lead.
Holmes went five innings, allowing two runs on four hits with a walk and five strikeouts.
The Mets tried to get something going in the third, after newly recalled MJ Melendez collected their first hit of the game, a one-out double to left center. But Francisco Alvarez struck out, and Francisco Lindor battled Ohtani for 11 pitches before also striking out on a foul tip.
They tried again in the fifth, kicked off by Alvarez’s leadoff walk. Carson Benge hit a sinking liner that should have gone for a hit, but Alvarez held up when it appeared that Teoscar Hernandez was going to make a diving catch. Hernandez missed it, and Alvarez was the force out at second. Ohtani, finally on the ropes, walked Semien to bring up Melendez, who laced a ground-rule double to the rightfield corner to cut the deficit to 2-1. Ohtani, though, struck out Tommy Pham and got Lindor to fly out to left to strand the tying run at third.
The Mets managed just two hits off Ohtani, both from Melendez, as the righty allowed the one run on two hits with two walks and 10 strikeouts over six.
Hernandez hit a solo homer off Tobias Myers in the sixth and the final, crushing blow came in the eighth.
With Edwin Diaz warming up in the Dodgers bullpen, the man who replaced him loaded the bases on two singles and a walk to bring up Rushing (one of those hits, Hernandez’s infield single, would have been prevented had Lindor charged in).
Williams went to his changeup and Rushing uncorked, blasting the hanger 412 feet to straightaway center for his first career grand slam. Kyle Tucker, another guy who chose the Dodgers over the Mets, then proceeded to homer off Austin Warren.
“It’s not a good showing right now,” manager Carlos Mendoza said. “I think just the conviction when we’re making swing decisions has got to be better . . . they’re [angry], frustrated and obviously not happy about it. I want them to be [angry].”
If there was any solace to be had, it’s that the lopsided score meant that Diaz’s trumpets wouldn’t be playing at Dodger Stadium on this night. For the Mets, they would have sounded too much like a death knell.
Notes & quotes: Infielder Jared Young will undergo surgery to repair a left meniscus tear, Mendoza said. He’ll be out for about six to eight weeks. Melendez was recalled from Triple-A Syracuse in his place . . . Juan Soto (calf) ran for the second day in a row and took live batting practice at Citi Field. The Mets will see how he recovers before determining whether to do more imaging. He’s still on track for a late-April return . . . Jorge Polanco (bursitis) was out of the lineup after suffering a flare-up Tuesday. An injured list stint is possible if he doesn’t feel better after Thursday’s off day, Mendoza said.
Laura Albanese is the Mets beat writer for Newsday. She's been covering MLB since 2014 after starting at Newsday as an intern seven years earlier.
