Chris Bassitt mostly good, but Mets again can't hang with Dodgers
Mets starting pitcher Chris Bassitt throws to a Los Angeles Dodgers batter during the first inning of a baseball game Friday, June 3, 2022, in Los Angeles. Credit: AP/John McCoy
LOS ANGELES — Chris Bassitt pitched well enough Friday night, allowing the Dodgers four runs (three earned) in six innings. Cody Bellinger and Zach McKinstry each tagged him for a two-run home run. He struck out eight, walked two and gutted through the middle innings to finish at 110 pitches, the most by a Met this year.
But it didn’t much matter with the way Los Angeles has silenced the Mets’ previously potent bats. The Dodgers deployed the same successful formula for a second game in a row — enough scoring, excellent pitching — as they beat the Mets, 6-1.
The Mets (35-19) haven’t dropped three straight games at all this season and will try to extend that streak Saturday when David Peterson faces Walker Buehler. Through half of this four-game series with the Dodgers (35-17), the Mets have totaled one run and eight hits.
“We’re having a hard time scoring runs the last two nights,” Mark Canha said. “So that’s happening.”
This time the blame/credit went to lefthander Tyler Anderson, a Rockies staple turned journeyman turned randomly awesome Dodgers starter at age 32. He shut out the Mets for six innings, stretching his scoreless-innings streak to 26 and lowering his ERA to 2.59.
When Los Angeles manager Dave Roberts lifted Anderson at 81 pitches, the Mets’ next batter — Pete Alonso — hit a 433-foot homer to leftfield (No. 14) against Yency Almonte.
The closest the Mets came to rallying against Anderson was a pair of singles by J.D. Davis and Eduardo Escobar in the fifth. But in between, Canha grounded into a double play.
“The changeup, he’s got the cutter, he’s working on both sides of the plate, moving back and forth,” manager Buck Showalter said of Anderson. “You can’t box one out because they’re all at his disposal. He’s got the delivery that’s got some deception in it, but the changeup’s got more movement on it than it’s had in the past too.”
Bassitt’s struggles against lefthanded hitters continued in the second when Bellinger homered to right. McKinstry, also a lefty batter, did the same in the fourth.
“Two bad pitches. Against this lineup, that’s all it really takes,” Bassitt said. “They have the best hitters in the world. It’s that simple.”
Lefthanded hitters entered the game with a .773 OPS against Bassitt this season. Righties had a .615 OPS. Although he liked how he approached the lefthanders overall, Bassitt was frustrated with the home runs, calling his pitch to Bellinger “idiotic” and “stupid.”
“I’m pretty sure throwing a ball down and in to Bellinger is the last place you want to throw a ball to,” he said. “For some reason, I aimed right where he loves the ball.”
Trea Turner’s single in the first inning extended his hitting streak to 26 games, the longest active streak in the majors.
Francisco Lindor went 0-for-4, ending his 10-game RBI streak. It was his first action since suffering a fracture in the tip of his right middle finger when he caught it in a hotel door Wednesday night. Showalter said Lindor will be able to play through the injury, which Lindor said felt “much better” than it had a day earlier.
When Lindor lobbied to get into the lineup after missing one game, the Mets had him test the finger before the game by throwing, which went well. The first Dodgers batter of the game, Mookie Betts, sent a grounder to Lindor. Of course.
“I haven’t anticipated a ground ball that much in years. I knew the first ground ball was going to come to me,” he said. “I was happy I was able to make it through the game.”
Showalter said: “You knew the first ball was going to be hit to him, right? You can count on it. Really proud of him, getting through that. Hopefully it’ll only get better as we go.”
Tim Healey is the Mets beat writer for Newsday. Born on Long Island and raised in Connecticut, Tim has previously worked for the South Florida Sun Sentinel, the Boston Globe and MLB.com. He is also the author of “Hometown Hardball,” a book about minor league baseball in the northeast.
