Davis’ 3-run double the difference in pitchers’ duel
NEW YORK — Rajai Davis hit a three-run double off Julio Urias with two outs in the eighth inning following a brilliant pitchers’ duel between the Mets’ Jacob deGrom and Hyun-Jin Ryu, and New York beat the Los Angeles Dodgers 3-0 Saturday night to maintain its slim wild-card hopes.
DeGrom and Ryu both pitched shutout ball for seven innings and neither walked a batter in a game in which each team got just three hits.
New York remained three games behind the Chicago Cubs for the second NL wild card with 14 games left and also trails Milwaukee.
Davis broke a 0-0 tie after two hit batters and a walk by the Dodgers’ bullpen. The 38-year-old Davis, who had been hitless in 10 at-bats since Aug. 20, pinch hit, reached for a changeup and hooked it down the leftfield line. Davis also had a memorable three-run homer for the Mets against Washington on May 22 in his first big league game this season.
Seth Lugo (6-3) struck out the side in the eighth, and Justin Wilson pitched a perfect ninth for his third save, ending a nine-game winning streak for the Dodgers at Citi Field dating to 2016. Los Angeles already has clinched its seventh straight NL West title.
DeGrom allowed three hits and struck out eight, getting 11 groundball outs and retiring 16 straight batters starting in the second inning. He is 0-4 in 10 regular season starts against the Dodgers despite a 2.87 ERA, though he did beat them twice in the 2015 Division Series. DeGrom had a 1.69 ERA in 12 starts since the All-Star break, lowering his season ERA to 2.61.
Despite his superior efforts, deGrom has not won back-to-back starts since his first two appearances of the season. He has pitched scoreless ball 14 times since the start of the 2018 season, but the Mets are just 8-6 in those outings.
Ryu was just as sharp, giving up two hits in seven innings with six strikeouts to lower his major leaguebest ERA to 2.35.
Todd Frazier was hit on the left hand on the first pitch after Joe Kelly (5-4) entered with one out in the eighth, the Mets’ first baserunner since the third inning. Kelly struck out Juan Lagares on eight pitches, Urias hit Brandon Nimmo on the right arm and Amed Rosario walked, loading the bases. Davis then pinch hit for Lugo.