Dodgers sweep way past Mets

LOS ANGELES >> Corey Seager never let go of his bat.

The Dodgers had loaded the bases with two outs in the seventh iing Thursday, looking to pad a 4-3 lead against the New York Mets. The pitcher, Pedro Baez, was due to bat. Right-hander Sergio Romo was warming up in the bullpen. Seager, arguably the Dodgers’ best all-around hitter, was standing in the on-deck circle.

And then he wasn’t.

Dave Roberts called Seager back into the dugout so that Baez could hit for himself against reliever Jerry Blevins. The unorthodox decision paid off when Blevins threw four pitches out of the strike zone, walking Baez to force in a run before the aounced crowd of 45,967 at Dodger Stadium.

It wasn’t Roberts’ only curious call from the dugout, but they all worked Thursday. They worked all series. The Dodgers swept the four-game set from the Mets, wiing 6-3.

In his 12th start of the season — his fifth since rejoining the rotation — Dodgers starter Hyun-Jin Ryu allowed two runs in five iings. He threw a fairly efficient 86 pitches, well short of the 105 he threw in his previous outing.

But Roberts decided he’d seen enough from Ryu with a Dodgers nursing a 3-2 lead after five iings. The Mets found new life with Chris Hatcher on the mound in the sixth iing. A two-out double by Lucas Duda drove in Jay Bruce to tie the game 3-3.

Ryu lowered his eaed-run average for the season to 4.30. Hatcher saw his ERA rise to 4.66.

For the second consecutive day, Curtis Granderson led off the game with a home run. He sent Ryu’s fourth pitch, a 92 mph fastball, over the fence in right-center field.

Also for the second consecutive day, the Mets’ momentum died there. The Dodgers’ first hit of the game was a solo home run by Justin Tuer in the third iing. The next batter, Cody Bellinger, lined a ground-rule double over the short right field fence on one hop. Kiké Heandez hit Steven Matz’s next pitch over the fence for a two-run home run. It was the Dodgers’ 14th home run of the series, and it gave the Dodgers a 3-1 lead.

Rather than pile on, the Dodgers let up.

Matz completed six iings and did not allow another hit. The only trouble he encountered was when Austin Baes walked to lead off the fourth iing, then stole second and third base. No Dodger catcher had stolen two bases in the same game - let alone the same iing - since Russell Martin in 2010. But Baes was stranded when Ryu struck out and Logan Forsythe lined out to left field.

Matz allowed only three hits and three runs over six iings, while walking five batters and striking out eight.

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The Dodgers retook the lead in the seventh iing on a solo home run by Joc Pederson, their 15th homer in the series.

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