LOS ANGELES (AP) — The New York Mets arrived at Dodger Stadium anticipating a four-game showdown that might tell them some things about their ability to contend with baseball’s best teams.
After clutch hits from Pete Alonso and J.D. Davis, a blown late lead and a gritty finish by rookie Adonis Medina in a thrilling series finale, the Mets are leaving LA confident they’ve got the talent and tenacity to play with anybody.
Davis led off the 10th inning with an RBI double after the Mets wasted a two-run lead in the ninth, and New York hung on to salvage a four-game split with a 5-4 victory over the Los Angeles Dodgers on Sunday.
“Hopefully the test is more so at the end of the year,” Davis said. “I think it was maybe more so a quiz.”
The results are already in, however: The Mets are good, and they’ll only get better when Max Scherzer and Jacob deGrom return from injury. With one-third of the regular season finished, New York (37-19) nudged back ahead of Los Angeles (35-19) for the NL’s best record with its eighth win in 10 games.
Alonso doubled home the tying run in the eighth and scored the go-ahead run on Eduardo Escobar’s sacrifice fly. Alonso then started the 10th on second base as the automatic runner and scored another go-ahead run on Davis’ hit off Craig Kimbrel (0-2).
Medina came through in the biggest moment of his career to date, retiring Mookie Betts and Freddie Freeman to open the Dodgers’ half of the 10th. Trea Turner reached on catcher interference and the Dodgers got two runners in scoring position, but Medina coolly struck out Will Smith to earn his first career save in his sixth appearance for the Mets, who used closer Edwin Díaz against LA’s 1-2-3 hitters in the eighth.
“For this team to have that trust in me at that moment, it’s a big deal,” Medina…
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