The New York Mets (21-12) defeated the Los Angeles Dodgers (17-17) by a score of 4-3 on Wednesday night at Dodger Stadium.
Noah Syndergaard got the ball for the Mets and did it all himself, tossing 8 brilliant innings (2 runs, 6 hits, 1 walk, 6 strikeouts, 95 pitches) and driving in all four runs with a pair of home runs.
Thor became the second pitcher in Met history to go yard twice in a game, joining Walt Terrell on Terrell’s 58th birthday.
Rookie sensation Kenta Maeda pitched decently for a mere mortal, but was outperformed on both ends by his opposite number. Maeda surrendered one of Thor’s homers leading off the third and the other with two men on in the fifth.
Syndergaard allowed solo shots to Corey Seager and Yasmani Grandal, but otherwise held the Dodgers in check.
The Mets could have won this game comfortably, but squandered many chances to get some insurance runs. The team left 9 men on base and went 1-for-9 with runners in scoring position.
Thor had two chances at a three-homer game, but struck out both times. He did, however rip some screaming line drives in his third at-bat. The guy can hit.
Yoenis Cespedes and Michael Conforto had two hits apiece, while Neil Walker snapped an 0-for-22 skid with a double.
Jeurys Familia had a rocky ninth, allowing a leadoff double and a pair of groundouts that got the run home (and were both nearly hits), but got some help from his defense and struck out Yasiel Puig to end the ballgame.
That was unreal. Thor is incredible. It’s huge when pitchers can help themselves at the plate, but you never expect a performance like this. Thor did it all, and nearly did some more— that liner in the sixth might have been a grand slam if it had gone out.
It didn’t hurt them in this one, but the Mets need to convert opportunities like the ones they had tonight in the sixth and seventh innings. In the last few games, they’ve often had the bottom of the order up in some huge spots, but with a team as deep as this one, you still hope to see the 7 and 8 hitters come through (#9 certainly did his part).
Puig hit a ball deep to left and flipped his bat like he had crushed it. Michael Conforto caught it easily. Other than our pitcher going yard twice, that was the highlight of the game.
This was a big win to secure at least a split, because the next game has us going up against a guy who’s pretty tough to beat.
Up Next: The Mets will finish their four-game set with the Dodgers on Thursday night at 10:10 PM in LA. Bartolo Colon (3-1, 2.82 ERA) will look to stay hot at the plate and on the mound, but he’ll be going up against the best of the best, as the Dodgers will counter with Clayton Kershaw (4-1, 2.04 ERA).
