Streak stopped at six as Ohtani and Dodgers pile it on in Hollywood
LOS ANGELES — The streak had to stop sometime.
With the Mets going for a sweep of the Dodgers after winning six straight, right-hander Adrian Houser imploded on the mound Sunday, giving up 10 earned runs, including six in the fifth inning alone. Behind a dominant performance by right-hander Tyler Glasnow, the Dodgers shut out the Mets, 10-0, on Sunday at Dodger Stadium.
The comeback magic that has defined the last month for the Mets (12-9) was nowhere to be found. Glasnow (4-1) was too good and the mountain was too steep to climb.
“For the first four innings, I thought he was OK,” said manager Carlos Mendoza. “But then the last inning — the fifth inning — he ran out of gas.”
Houser (0-2) was effective the first time through the lineup, but a two-run homer by Shohei Ohtani in the third put the Mets down, 2-0. Back in the first inning, Houser handled Ohtani relatively easily, getting ahead on the DH and striking him out on a slider in the dirt.
But in the third, with one on and one out, Houser’s slider hung up over the middle of the plate and Ohtani drove it 423 feet into the left-field stands to break Hideki Matsui’s record for the most home runs hit by a Japanese-born player with the 176th of his career.
Houser fell apart in the fifth. He walked the first two hitters before giving up an RBI single to Mookie Betts. Ohtani’s infield single loaded the bases with none out and Freddie Freeman scored two on a double. Will Smith followed with another two-run double to put Los Angeles up, 7-0, prompting organist Dieter Ruehle to play the “NFL on FOX” theme song.
“Too many pitches over the heart of the plate,” Mendoza said. “The two walks to start, and then the top three there. A lot of pitches over the plate and they didn’t miss them.”
Grant Hartwig, called up earlier in the day from Triple-A Syracuse with left-hander Brooks Raley injured, came in to replace Houser. He walked Max Muncy to put two on with none out.
Finally, Hartwig got two outs. But Andy Pages then came up to the plate for the second time in the inning. The Cuban rookie launched his first career home run, drilling a 1-1 sinker over the center-field wall, putting the Dodgers up by a touchdown and a field goal.
The familiar Sunday refrain came from the organ once again.
Houser was charged with eight earned runs on seven hits over more than four innings. Walks have become an issue for him in recent outings, with the former Brewers’ righty walking five his last time out against the Pirates. The Mets bailed him out and won anyway, taking him off the hook for a decision.
There was no such luck this time.
“Too many mistakes,” Houser said. “I think the walks early in the game just kind of affected that and got me here. I just wasn’t able to get in sync in the fifth inning and I need to be able to get some quick outs there and be able to keep the team in the ballgame. These guys have been playing great and I’m letting them down right now and can’t be doing that.”
Through four starts this season, his walk rate has shot up to nearly six per nine innings, much higher than his career rate of 3.6. Houser isn’t sure what’s leading to command issues but he intends to find out.
“I’m not really sure,” he said. “I think right now I’m just getting out of sync and not being able to stay in sync. So that’s something I’m really searching on and I’m trying to figure it out because I’m walking way too many guys and that’s what’s really hurting me right now. I’m just giving them too many opportunities on base without making them put the ball in play.”
Glasnow tossed eight shutout frames in a stellar performance. The Mets got seven hits against him, but he struck out 10. Tyrone Taylor, who grew up a Dodgers fan in nearby Torrance, struck out with the bases loaded in the eighth.
Taking two of three from the Dodgers (13-11) on the road was a solid start to this two-city California swing. The Mets will look to regroup in San Francisco tonight as they open a three-game series against the Giants at Oracle Park.