Brandon Nimmo went 5-for-5 with a two-run home run and two runs scored to help lift the Mets to a 5-3 victory over the Los Angeles Dodgers in the rubber game of their three-game set on Wednesday afternoon.
It was the second five-hit game of Nimmo’s career, the first coming in a 5-for-6 effort on Aug. 15, 2018, in a 16-5 win against the Baltimore Orioles. He singled in the first and third innings before launching his first round-tripper of the season to give the Mets (12-7) a 2-1 lead. He followed it up with another two singles in the seventh and ninth — the latter helping to set up a two-run double for Mark Canha that provided some much-needed insurance in what became a 5-2 game.
A David Peralta home run to lead off the bottom of the ninth off closer Adam Ottavino cut the Mets’ lead to two before the book was closed on Los Angeles.
The ledger wasn’t kind to either of the day’s starting pitchers, who were hoping to have solid outings against their former teams.
While Noah Syndergaard, who spent seven years with the Mets, allowed Nimmo’s home run in five innings of work, Scherzer never got to see the fourth inning after he was ejected following multiple glove inspections by the umpiring crew led by chief Phil Cuzzi.
Scherzer spent the second half of the 2021 season with the Dodgers after being traded over from the Washington Nationals.
As he did in his previous start nine days earlier against the San Diego Padres, Scherzer struggled with his command at the start. He walked a pair to load the bases in the first with one out but battled to get Jason Heyward swinging before coaxing an inning-ending groundout by Miguel Vargas, expending 28 pitches to do so.
He rebounded well, needing just 11 pitches to get through the second inning, but ran into his first inkling of trouble with the umps when he was forced to change his glove before the third inning.
The inspection certainly didn’t faze him as he mowed down the Dodgers in order needing just eight pitches.
Walking out to the mound for the fourth inning, he was flagged down by Cuzzi for another inspection. Following an animated conversation while Cuzzi rubbed his fingers together to indicate that something had been found inside Scherzer’s new glove, the Mets pitcher was ejected. Scherzer could be seen imploring Cuzzi that it was “just rosin,” but it did nothing to help his chances of staying in the game.
Jimmy Yacobonis took over for Scherzer and proceeded to yield the game’s opening run in the fourth thanks to a David Peralta sacrifice fly that scored Jason Heyward, who doubled earlier in the frame. However, the Mets reliever did well to provide his team with some much-needed burn, going 2.2 innings in total while allowing that one run on one hit.
The Mets struck back quickly to take the lead in the top of the fifth when Nimmo crushed a no-doubter of a two-run shot over Heyward and into the right-field bleachers for his first home run of the season that traveled an estimated 431 feet.
After leaving the bases loaded without getting anything across in the seventh, the Mets were in danger of letting a prime scoring opportunity fall by the wayside after a Francisco Lindor double and Pete Alonso single put runners at the corners to lead off the eighth, but Tommy Pham managed to tack on a run with a sacrifice fly to give the visitors a two-run lead.
Los Angeles pulled one right back off David Robertson in the bottom of the frame when JD Martinez doubled home Freddie Freeman, who walked and advanced to second on a wild pitch.
After intentionally walking Max Muncy, Robertson got Heyward and Vargas to pop out.
As they had all day, though, the Mets had an answer. Luis Guillorme walked and Nimmo picked up his fifth hit of the game, a clean single to left, which led to Canha’s bases-clearing double to open a temporary three-run lead.
