The Mets lost the finale of their series by a score of 2-0 and dropped three-of-four against the Dodgers in painful fashion. (Box Score)

Pitching

Jason Vargas was the starter for New York tonight, and his first inning did not get off to a promising start. Chris Taylor tripled to lead off the game for LA. Max Muncy followed up with a RBI double, causing the Dodgers to smell blood in the water.

Vargas rebounded to strikeout David Freese but walked Cody Bellinger. Enrique Hernandez flew out but Alex Verdugo walked. Fortunately, Vargas got Russell Martin to ground out and end the threat. The Mets left with a 1-0 deficit but it could have been much worse.

In the second inning, Vargas walked Hyun-Jin Ryu but struck out Chris Taylor and Max Muncy consecutively to end the threat. In the third, Freese and Bellinger led off with singles. Hernandez popped out though and Verdugo grounded into a double play to escape the damage.

From the fourth inning onwards, Vargas settled into a huge groove. He gave up a leadoff single but got Matt Beaty to hit into a double play and got Ryu to strikeout.

Given the Mets’ depleted bullpen, Manager Mickey Callaway had no choice but to let Vargas pitch through the third time of the order – Even though Vargas throws 85 MPH and the Dodgers have the best offense in the league.

In the sixth, he got Bellinger and Hernandez to pop out but Verdugo got a two-out single. That was no problem for Vargas as he got Martin to ground out and end the inning. In the seventh inning, Beaty, Ryu, and Taylor all hit into outs to end Vargas’ night quietly.

His final line was: 7 IP, 6 H, ER, 3 BB, 6 K. It goes to show how unpredictable baseball is when the Mets’ best starter this series against the best offense in the league was a guy throwing 85 MPH behind a bullpen without their best relievers.

Hector Santiago relieved Vargas and did not find the same success. He gave up a one-out double to David Freese. Santiago got bailed out by a nice catch from Michael Conforto against Bellinger. But with two-outs, Hernandez singled in Freese. Verdugo followed up with a single to move Hernandez to third. Drew Gagnon came in to try and put out the fire. He struck out Martin to keep the deficit at 2-0.

Offense

Ryu is the league leader in ERA and pitched like it tonight.

The Mets had their first scoring chance in the second. Todd Frazier walked and Carlos Gomez singled but neither Adeiny Hechavarria or Tomas Nido could cash in.

Their next best chance came in the seventh when Pete Alonso doubled but got stranded there. It was Alonso’s 32nd double of the season.

The Mets had another chance in the eighth inning when Wilson Ramos singled off the bench. With two-outs and a runner on first, the Dodgers took Ryu out in favor of Kenley Jansen. The Mets countered with Dominic Smith. Jansen bested him by striking him out.

The Mets had life in the ninth when Alonso was hit by a pitch with one-out. The Mets could not do anything with it, ending the game.

Up Next

The Mets are heading to the desert to face the Diamondbacks. Zack Wheeler will start for the Mets tomorrow night, and he will face Arizona’s starter Jon Duplantier.