Just Mets

The Mets defeated the Dodgers 2-1 at Dodger Stadium on Friday night. Here are my takeaways from tonight’s win…

Just enough.

The Mets didn’t exactly light it up in Hollywood on Friday night, but they did the bare minimum.

After falling behind 1-0 with Clayton Kershaw on the mound, with the way this offense has been of late, it looked like it may have been over very early for the Mets on Friday. To their credit, they were able to muster up a miniature rally against the reigning MVP, as Wilmer Flores tied the game in the 4th with an RBI single through the drawn in infield.

It was after this, however, when the Mets went into sleep mode against Kershaw. In the 6th, he doubled his strikeout total from three to six as he really seemed to be getting into a groove. Lucky for the Mets, they were able to get Kershaw out after seven innings due to a high pitch count.

After going down haplessly for four consecutive innings, it was in the 9th against the Dodgers normally dominant closer Kenley Jansen where they struck. Lucas Duda, Wilmer Flores and Kevin Plawecki all came up, all found themselves down 0-2 and all delivered.

Duda started the inning off by blooping a double down the left field line. After Flores singled off the glove of Jansen, it was Plawecki, who’s hit around .220 all season, who was able to lift a two-strike pitch into deep center field, scoring Duda from 3rd for what would be the game-winning run.

The Mets didn’t exactly excite me over their offensive performance tonight–they’ve scored just three runs in their last 38 innings–but what they did do, on this night, was enough to win.

Noah Syndergaard matched Clayton Kershaw.

In what was a tough test against a very tough Dodgers lineup and going against Clayton Kershaw, Noah Syndergaard really stepped up on the mound tonight.

Thor was terrific, pitching six innings and allowing an earned run on two hits and two walks while striking out six.

After giving up an early home run to Adrian Gonzalez, Syndergaard really seemed to settle in as he was in cruise control for most of this game. His toughest inning was in the 6th when he threw over 30 pitches and got himself in trouble with runners on 1st and 2nd with one out, but he was able to coax his way out of the jam by getting Gonzalez to line out to center and striking out Yasiel Puig on a nasty 3-2 curveball.

In his last two starts, Syndergaard has gone 14 innings and allowed two total runs. And don’t forget–he’s only 22.

Other notes from Friday:

Hansel Robles earned the win, pitching two scoreless innings in relief.

Juan Lagares went 0-for-4 and is now 3-for-his-last-39 (.077).

Michael Cuddyer made his first appearance since injuring his knee earlier this week, striking out looking as a pinch-hitter.

Jeurys Familia converted his 22nd save of the season.

With the win, the Mets broke their three-game losing streak.