The Mets dropped their series opener to the Dodgers 4-2 on Friday night at Citi Field, a tough pill to swallow after Sean Manaea had dealt six strong innings and Juan Soto had to leave the game early.
Manaea Battled Hard, Bullpen Blew It
Sean Manaea absolutely worked his tail off to limit a high-powered Dodgers offense, allowing just one run on six hits and two walks while striking out three over 6.0 innings. He navigated leadoff baserunners in two of the first three innings, erasing a first-inning single and breezing past a double in the third. Even when LA evened things up with a sacrifice fly in the fourth, Manaea left two more stranded on the corners. The lefty even got some defensive help, with a perfect relay gunning down Shohei Ohtani trying to stretch a double into a triple in a perfect fifth. Carson Benge had a bobble in the sixth that put Freddie Freeman on second, but the youngster redeemed himself two batters later, gunning Freeman down at the plate trying to score from third on a sacrifice fly. Manaea did everything he could, man.
But then the bullpen showed up. Brooks Raley immediately allowed LA to scratch across the go-ahead run on an Ohtani sacrifice fly. Then, A.J. Minter served up an insurance two-run homer to Kyle Tucker an inning later, making it a three-run ballgame. Just like that, Manaea’s solid effort was wiped clean.
Offense Couldn’t Get Going, Soto Injury Looms Large
New York just couldn’t get much else going against Dodgers starter Roki Sasaki. Aside from Luis Robert Jr.’s 381-foot blast for his fourth homer of the season (and second in three games since returning from the IL), Sasaki held them to only four other baserunners while striking out nine batters over 6.0 innings. The guy came into the night with 23 runs allowed over his last six starts, so you’d think the Mets could’ve done more damage. Francisco Alvarez did crush his 14th homer of the season, a 108.9 mph solo shot that traveled 401 feet in the eighth, showing some fight against Evan Phillips. But they couldn’t rally against Tanner Scott in the ninth.
The biggest blow of the night, though? That had to be Juan Soto. He was lifted for a pinch-hitter in the bottom of the sixth due to left calf soreness. Soto has been limited to DH duties since the All-Star break and even sat out Wednesday’s series finale in Milwaukee. Interim manager Andy Green said pregame that Soto was ready to go, making his mid-game exit even more concerning for the club.
What’s next? Nolan McLean takes the ball against Yoshinobu Yamamoto in the middle game Saturday at 7:15 p.m. Can they bounce back after this gut-wrenching loss and with Soto’s health now a major question mark?
This article was created with AI assistance and published under Seattle On Tap’s editorial standards. See our Editorial Policy.
Originally reported by Yahoo Sports.
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