The New York Mets were defeated by the Los Angeles Dodgers by a score of 3-1 in Game 4 of the NLDS on Tuesday night at Citi Field. The series is now tied at two games a piece and heads to Los Angeles for the critical Game 5 showdown.
Pitching:
Steven Matz started for the Mets and struggled through five innings. The rookie left-hander gave up three runs, all in the third inning, unfortunately though that is all the Dodgers needed with Clayton Kershaw in vintage form on only three days rest. Matz gave up six hits, along with two walks while striking out three in his postseason debut.
Former Met, Justin Turner had the big blow against Matz with a double down the left field line that scored two runs to give the Dodgers a total of three in the inning.
Bartolo Colon came on in relief and pitched scoreless frames in the sixth and seventh getting the Mets through some much needed clean innings to keep them in the game. Tyler Clippard and Jeurys Familia provided two scoreless innings of their own to keep the Dodgers at bay.
Offense:
The offense was near non-existent against Kershaw and the Mets only mustered three hits and one run off the Dodgers’ ace. The one run coming off a powerful blast from Daniel Murphy, his second off Kershaw in the series.
The Mets threatened in the eighth inning with two outs and Curtis Grandson on second, with David Wright on first. Daniel Murphy though flew out against Dodgers closer, Kenley Jansen to end any possible rally.
Notes:
Coming off an absolute explosion of offense the night before it was disappointing to see the Mets look so lifeless against Clayton Kershaw, who stepped up in a huge way for his team tonight. Facing Kershaw is not exactly the same as facing Brett Anderson.
The Mets relief pitching was the one highlight on the night. The bullpen combined for four innings of scoreless ball after being shaky as of late.
On Deck:
It’s onto Game 5. The Mets will head back to Los Angeles as it all comes down to one game. Win and continue to the NLCS or lose and go home.
Jacob deGrom (1-0, 0.00 ERA) will be opposed by Zack Greinke (1-0, 2.57 ERA). First pitch is scheduled for 8:00 PM EST.
