Teoscar Hernández and Dodgers defeat Mets in 13 innings, but pitching issues loom large

Los Angeles Times

24-05-2025

NEW YORK — The upcoming month was already going to be tough for the Dodgers.
A rainy Friday night in Queens made it that much tougher.
In the fourth of a 29-game stretch against nothing but playoff-contending teams, the Dodgers beat the New York Mets in a marathon contest at Citi Field, overcoming a three-run ninth-inning blown save from closer Tanner Scott by prevailing for a 7-5 win in the 13th.
But, their already shorthanded pitching staff endured more unexpected obstacles in the process. A one-hour, 38-minute rain delay in the top of the third limited starting pitcher Clayton Kershaw to just two innings. A never-ending game forced their overworked bullpen to combine for 11 more frames in which every reliever was used except one.
Navigating this difficult portion of the schedule — which began in earnest with a three-game series against the Arizona Diamondbacks earlier this week — will be a test for a Dodgers pitching staff missing three of its five opening-day rotation members and many other important arms in the bullpen.
Because of that, manager Dave Roberts has emphasized in recent days the need to push his starters to take down as many innings as possible.
On Friday, Kershaw seemed to be on his way to a decent start, pitching two scoreless innings in which his only baserunner reached via a walk that was quickly erased by a double-play.
But then, with the Dodgers mounting a rally in the top of the third, the New York skies opened up for a late May downpour. For the next 98 minutes, fans scattered for shelter and watched the Knicks' playoff game on the stadium scoreboard. Back in the visiting clubhouse, Roberts watched the clock tick and tick and tick, eventually to the point where keeping Kershaw in was no longer a viable option.
By the end of the night, that was the least of the Dodgers' problems.
Despite holding a 5-2 lead after getting three innings of two-run ball from Matt Sauer, and three scoreless frames from Ben Casparius, Scott couldn't get the game across the finish line.
Starling Marte led off with a single. Pete Alonso drew a one-out walk. Jeff McNeil got them both home on a triple hit just high enough to evade a leaping Freddie Freeman at first base. Tyrone Taylor then completed Scott's fourth blown save in 14 opportunities this year with an RBI single to left.
Somehow, the Dodgers (32-19) still managed to prevail.
Alex Vesia got the game to extras, stranding two runners aboard to end the ninth. Both teams then traded wasted opportunities from there, failing to score their automatic runners in the 10th (when the Dodgers had the bases loaded with no outs), the 11th (when Anthony Banda and Luis García combined to escape a bases-loaded threat) and the 12th (when the Dodgers turned an inning-ending double-play while employing a five-man infield).
Finally, Teoscar Hernández put the Dodgers back in front in the 13th, hitting a leadoff RBI double before later scoring on Andy Pages' sacrifice fly.
García closed it out in the bottom half of the frame, completing a 2 ⅓ scoreless inning appearance just minutes shy of 1 a.m. local time.
It was a hard-fought win, but one that could come with future consequences for a pitching staff that was already running on fumes.