The Dodgers Did What They Are Built To Do: Hurt People

Tom Ley|published: Thu 30th May, 10:24 2019

credits: Jayne Kamin-Oncea | source: Getty

You can look at what happened to the Mets in Los Angeles last night—blowing an 8-3 lead in the final three innings and getting walked off by the Dodgers—as yet another example of the hopeless and bumbling Mets hopelessly bumbling to an embarrassing result. That’s fair enough, because the Mets are the Mets and nobody should ever hesitate to laugh at them, but last night had more to do with the Dodgers’ might than the Mets’ meekness.

Just look at the particulars of how this comeback unfolded. Joc Pederson cracked a double in with one out in the bottom of the seventh, and two batters later Justin Turner singled him home. 8-4.

In the bottom of the eighth, Corey Seager led things off with a yam to straight-away center, and then Jeurys Familia managed to get through the rest of the inning unscathed. 8-5.

The bottom of the ninth is where things got grisly. Pederson led off the inning with a homer; Max Muncy came up next and whacked a dinger of his own; Justin Turner doubled; Cody Bellinger doubled; an intentional walk and an infield single loaded the bases; Alex Verdugo hit a sacrifice fly to left. Game over: 9-8.

All told, the Dodgers erased a five-run deficit with three doubles, three homers, two singles, a walk, and a sac fly.

This kind of comeback, a sudden and merciless blitz built on balls getting hit very hard and very far, is a feat that very few teams in MLB are equipped to pull off. The Twins could probably do it, and the Astros definitely could, but beyond those two squads there aren’t any other teams in the league as bloated as the Dodgers are with hitters capable of knocking the shit out of the ball. The Dodgers’ team OPS is .817, and only the Twins have scored more runs than them this season. Basically everyone in the lineup is capable of sending any pitch 20 rows into the outfield bleachers, and Bellinger is making a charge for the MVP award by taking every swing like he’s in a home run derby. (Seriously, go look at some of the absurd hacks he’s been taking.)

What happened to the Mets last night wasn’t all that crazy or unbelievable. It was the inevitable result of the Dodgers taking the field every day with a lineup as deep and as brawny as this one.