LOS ANGELES — It took seven pitches against a very tough pitcher, but in the end, Brett Baty prevailed, showing the Mets that they made a smart decision to call him up from Triple-A.
The Mets ultimately won the first game of a three-game series against the Los Angeles Dodgers on Monday night at Dodger Stadium 8-6. It was a wild, back-and-forth affair, but the focus of the game was on Baty, the Mets’ rookie third baseman who was called up earlier in the day after tearing up Triple-A pitching. Whether or not he can hit big-league pitching is a question that won’t be answered for a few more weeks or even months, but he took a good step toward answering it with an at-bat in the fourth.
The Mets (11-6) had just taken a 4-3 lead over the Dodgers (8-9) with an RBI groundout to score Pete Alonso. Facing right-hander Dustin May with two out and Jeff McNeil on third base, Baty fell behind 0-2. No one bothered to hold McNeil on third base and he took a large lead before May checked him. McNeil continued to dance off third while Baty fouled off four pitches and took ball one.
He fouled another one off before he got the right pitch: A 97.7 mph fastball up and inside. Baty sent a line drive over the head of the second baseman to score McNeil and give the Mets a 5-3 lead.
Baty finished the day 1-for-4 with an RBI. It wasn’t the top performance of the night but it was a notable one.
“I don’t think he’s intimidated by the game but he’s got a healthy respect for it,” manager Buck Showalter said. “I take out of tonight the great defensive play he made. That was fun to watch.”
Pete Alonso, Brandon Nimmo and McNeil, who played college ball at nearby Long Beach State, all logged three-hit games. Daniel Vogelbach hit his first home run of the season off May in the second inning, sending a two-run shot into the right field stands in the second to give the Mets a 3-2 lead. He went 1-for-2 with three RBI.
“I feel like we never think we’re out of it,” Vogelbach said. “No matter what the score is or where we’re at in the game, we always think we’re in it.”
Left-hander David Peterson (1-2) was burned by the home run ball, giving up two homers to Freddie Freeman and one to Max Muncy, both left-handed hitters. The third one came in the top of the sixth with none out and one on. Muncy absolutely crushed a two-run homer 433 feet into the right-field stands, changing the lead to 6-5.
Peterson allowed six earned runs on seven hits, struck out six and walked none. However, he gave the Mets the length they needed after two taxing bullpen games over the weekend in Oakland.
“We needed six innings out of our starters tonight and he gave it to us,” Showalter said. “Whether it was 5-0 or 5-2, I think he would have been pitching in this game. He got the win and there’s another tribute to perseverance and staying out there, grinding through it.”
His teammates picked him up in the seventh when they plated three to go ahead 8-6. Alex Vesia (0-2) was charged with all three runs. Phil Bickford came in with the bases loaded, and no outs, and balked in a run. The Dodgers never recovered and needed a third pitcher to get through the inning.
Brooks Raley pitched the seventh and started the eighth, exiting with runners on second and third and two outs. Drew Smith finished the inning with the lead intact for the Mets and Adam Ottavino converted the save, his second, to give the Mets their fifth straight win.
“Some nights, the pitcher is on top of his game and if he’s on top of the game, they’re certainly going to win that battle,” Showalter said. “But when there’s a little crack in the armor, our guys are pretty good at jumping through it.”
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