LOS ANGELES (AP) - Trailing by three against an All-Star closer, Cody Bellinger and the Los Angeles Dodgers weren’t fazed one bit.
Bellinger hit a tying double and came around with the winning run as the Dodgers scored four times off Edwin Díaz in the ninth inning to rally past the New York Mets 9-8 on Wednesday night.
“One through nine we are really good. We were just going up and down the lineup,” Bellinger said. “Down three against Díaz is never easy, but once we hit the home runs it was just a matter of getting guys on base.”
Joc Pederson and Max Muncy opened the bottom of the ninth with consecutive homers off Díaz (1-3), who was pitching for the fourth time in five days. Justin Turner followed with a double and scored on Bellinger’s double to right-center.
“Díaz is a good closer but we match up well,” Muncy said. “He is a fastball pitcher and this team likes to hit fastballs. We got a couple things going and we went from there.”
Corey Seager was intentionally walked and Matt Beaty hit a roller toward second base. Mets shortstop Amed Rosario was slow to field the ball and late trying for a force at second, allowing Bellinger to beat the play on an infield single that loaded the bases.
Alex Verdugo’s sacrifice fly to left field easily scored Bellinger.
“Joc, Muncy, Seager, those guys did the hard stuff by hitting home runs and getting on base. My job with the bases loaded and no outs was to get the guy in,” said Verdugo, who got his first career walk-off RBI.
Díaz, who blew his second save in 15 chances, had allowed only one run over 9 1/3 innings in his last 10 appearances.
After giving up four runs and five hits in one-third of an inning, he called it “easily the worst game of my career.”
“The whole time I’m thinking he is going to get out of it and it didn’t happen,” Mets manager Mickey Callaway said. “We were in great position and couldn’t get it done. I haven’t seen many teams, though, that can do this consistently from top to bottom.”
Scott Alexander (3-1) worked a hitless inning for the win.
Rookie slugger Pete Alonso hit a pair of two-run homers to back starter Noah Syndergaard, and the Mets built an 8-3 lead in the seventh following back-to-back homers by Rosario and Dominic Smith. But they squandered an excellent chance to add more, and New York’s shaky bullpen gave up six runs while managing only seven outs the rest of the way.
Turner had a two-out RBI single in the seventh off Robert Gsellman, and Seager homered leading off the eighth against Jeurys Familia to cut it to 8-5.
Seager, Turner and Beaty each had three hits for the NL-leading Dodgers, who have won 11 of 14.
New York missed a chance to move back over .500 for the first time since May 2.
Alonso’s third multihomer game gave him 19 homers this year, matching the major league rookie mark for most before June 1. Mark McGwire hit 19 for Oakland in the first two months of the 1987 season.
Alonso has gone deep 10 times in May, setting a franchise rookie record for any month.
Adeiny Hechavarria drove in two runs for New York, and Smith had three hits. Syndergaard threw a season-high 116 pitches, allowing three runs and seven hits in six innings.
Dodgers starter Walker Buehler permitted five runs and seven hits in five innings. Turner and Verdugo each knocked in two runs.
RECORD BOOK
Alonso has already tied Ike Davis (2010) and Ron Swoboda (1965) for second-most home runs by a Mets rookie. The franchise mark is 26 by Darryl Strawberry in 1983.
ENDURANCE MAN
It was the fifth time in Syndergaard’s career he threw 115 or more pitches. His career high is 118 against Colorado in 2015. Syndergaard has thrown at least 100 pitches in eight starts this season, tied for second in the NL behind Washington ace Max Scherzer (10).
WEB GEM
Mets center fielder Carlos Gomez prevented Seager from getting a triple in the fifth with a great throw to third baseman Todd Frazier.
Gomez wasn’t able to catch Seager’s long fly as it hit the wall, but he quickly recovered and fired to Frazier, who picked the ball deftly on one tough hop to tag out Seager.
TRAINER’S ROOM
Mets: LF-INF Jeff McNeil (hamstring) is doing some running, taking grounders and taking swings in the batting cage in New York. … RHP Seth Lugo (right shoulder tendinitis) threw 26 pitches in a bullpen session. It is possible he could be activated during this weekend’s series in Arizona.
Dodgers: A limping Turner, hit by a pitch in four straight games earlier this month, reached for the back of his right knee in the dugout after scoring in the ninth inning. Roberts has been trying to rest Turner at every opportunity and said he thought about taking him out after the seventh if the Dodgers had not scored to get within four.
UP NEXT
Mets: LHP Jason Vargas (1-2, 5.22 ERA) tossed five innings of one-run ball last Saturday against Detroit, which was his first start since May 5 after a stint on the injured list with left hamstring tightness.
Dodgers: LHP Hyun-Jin Ryu (7-1, 1.65) has struck out 62 and issued only four walks in 10 starts this season.
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