There is no team in Baseball as talented as the Los Angeles Dodgers, and few players have the skill set of Yasiel Puig, or the ability to make incredible plays next to self-destructive ones such as the talented right fielder in the losing effort against the New York Mets who came away with the 5-3 win, ending the impressive run Zack Greinke was having.
It was also a day to remember for Mets rookie Earl Campbell, who got the start in left field for his offensive abilities. He did get an RBI but was 0-for-3 on the day, and made is start worthy thanks to some fantastic defense in the eighth inning, making an amazing diving catch to double Puig off of second base, as the Dodgers’ youngster made his second big baserunning mistake of the game, proving quite costly to a team that is doing far worse than its payroll indicates it should be.
Greinke wasn’t bad, but he wasn’t as good as usual. After 21 consecutive games of giving up two runs or less in his starts, he allowed three runs in the five innings he played, taken off after allowing four hits and walking two while tossing 101 pitches. The last time he gave up more than two runs was on July 25, 2013 when he gave up 4 runs to the Reds. Only one of the runs was earned, so he still has a streak of 22 straight starts with 2 or fewer earned runs that remains alive.
The Yankees didn’t lose the game with Greinke, but with Chris Perez, allowing the tie breaking single to Juan Lagares and later a triple to Curtis Granderson, who has been having an awful season but was 2-for-4 with an RBI, getting his 21st RBI of the season. Granderson also hit a double earlier in the game, making things very difficult for the Dodgers’ pitching crew, taking 30 pitches to his four visits to the plate.
The Dodgers led after Adrian Gonzalez hit a sacrifice fly in the first inning but Campbell tied the game with a sac fly of his own, followed by an RBI double from Jonathan Niese and the pitcher himself scored thanks to an error by Justin Turner. Turner made up for that with a two-run homer in the 7th, his first of the season, to even things up, but then came the scoring from Lagares and Granderson.
Niese got the win for allowing four hits and three runs while striking out five and walking three in a seven inning effort. He was followed by Daisuke Matsuzaka and Jenrry Mejia, allowing only one hit in their two innings, with Mejia picking up the save. The Dodgers took 2-of-3 in Queens, and now head over to Philadelphia for the weekend series, while the Mets host the Diamondbacks next.