Turner, Dodgers steamroll Mets 8-0 for season sweep (Aug 06, 2017)
NEW YORK (AP) The Dodgers had just crushed the Mets like refuse in a trash compactor when Justin Turner heard a teammate marveling in the clubhouse food room.
''How many wins is that?'' the unidentified player said.
''It doesn't really matter,'' Turner remembered as the group response. ''We've got to get ready to play on Tuesday.''
Turner's caught stealing turned into a two-out stolen base when a video review determined he reached around Amed Rosario to evade the rookie shortstop's tag. That sparked a three-run first inning in an 8-0 rout Sunday night that completed the Dodgers' first season sweep of New York.
''We show up and regardless of the circumstance, the opponent, location, we expect to win,'' Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said.
Hyun-Jin Ryu (4-6), Tony Cingrani and Kenley Jansen combined on a one-hitter and the Dodgers' major league-high 12th shutout. New York's only baserunners were on Travis d'Arnaud's third-inning single and Brandon Nimmo's ninth-inning walk.
Los Angeles outscored the Mets 57-15 over seven games this year and outhomered them 25-11.
''We were overmatched. They outplayed us in every facet of the game,'' Mets manager Terry Collins said.
Los Angeles has won four straight, 13 of 14 and is 24-3 since July 4, losing three games to Atlanta. The Dodgers are 79-32, on pace for 115 wins, and they are just the fourth big league team to win 43 or more over a 50-game stretch - the first since the 1912 New York Giants, according to the Elias Sports Bureau. The others were the 1906 Chicago Cubs and 1884 St. Louis Maroons of the Union Association.
Rookie Cody Bellinger hit his 32nd homer, a 447-foot, two-run drive off Hansel Robles in the eighth. Exactly half his homers have come from the seventh inning on.
''Sick,'' was his one-word response.
Turner, who like Bellinger homered for the second straight day, raised his NL-leading batting average to .349. He is hitting .346 (9 for 26) with four homers and seven RBIs this year against the Mets, who let him go after the 2013 season.
''Who knows? If I was still with the Mets, maybe I'd be completely out of baseball now,'' Turner said.
Daniel Murphy, who left New York for Washington after the 2015 season, also has hit his former team hard.
''We text every night and give each other secrets on how to do damage against the Mets,'' Turner deadpanned, before saying he was joking.
Ryu extended his scoreless streak to 15 innings, striking out eight over seven innings as Los Angeles opened a season-high, 15 1/2-game NL West lead and moved 47 games over .500 for the first time since 1962.
Umpire Will Little called Turner out on the first-inning steal of second. Los Angeles credited video coordinator John Pratt for spotting the missed tag, leading to the overturned call.
''Probably the turning point of the game,'' Roberts said.
Rosario's translator, Edwin Gonzalez, said ''not tonight'' when a reporter asked to speak with the player.
Bellinger walked, the Dodgers pulled off a double steal and Logan Forsythe grounded the next pitch up the middle for a two-run single. Runners are 9 for 9 on steal attempts on Steven Matz this year and 32 for 38 in his big league career.
Austin Barnes followed with an RBI double, and Turner made it 5-0 in the third with a two-run, opposite-field drive to right-center off Matz (2-5).
New York has lost nine straight to the Dodgers and seven of eight overall. At 49-60, the Mets are 11 games under .500 for the first time since July 2014.
Matz was removed after 102 pitches and 5 1/3 innings, allowing five runs and six hits. He is 0-4 with an 11.03 ERA in his last six starts.
''It's shocking,'' Collins said.
LEFT, TOO
RHP Yu Darvish played catch left-handed, two days after pitching seven shutout innings to win his Dodgers' debut. ''He's got a three-pitch mix, and he can really do some things with the baseball left-handed,'' Roberts said.
FAN CLUB
Dodgers OF Kike Hernandez wore the Yoenis Cespedes No. 52 chain, given to fans as a promotion Saturday. Hernandez said he got it from family who attended the game.
TRAINER'S ROOM
Dodgers: LHP Clayton Kershaw, who hasn't pitched since injuring his back on July 23, will rejoin the Dodgers on Monday night in Phoenix. ... C Yasmani Grandal was out of the starting lineup, a day after leaving in the ninth inning due to a sore back. ''I expect him to be ready to start on Tuesday,'' Roberts said. ... Barnes was hit on the knuckles of his bare hand by Jose Reyes' second-inning foul tip. X-rays after the game were negative. ... LHP Alex Wood (13-1) threw a bullpen session and adjusted his mechanics, three days after feeling fatigue after beating Atlanta. He is to start Wednesday. ... 1B Adrian Gonzalez, who hasn't played for the Dodgers since June 11 because of lumbar disk herniation, went 2 for 5 with two RBIs in the first two games of a rehab assignment at Triple-A Oklahoma City.
Mets: RF-1B Jay Bruce missed his second straight games with a sore neck. ... Neil Walker fouled out when he pinch hit in the sixth and is 3 for 28 since returning from a partially torn left hamstring on July 28. ... RHP Matt Harvey (right shoulder stress injury) pitched a bullpen session and is to throw batting practice Tuesday. ... RHP Robert Gsellman, on the DL since late June with a strained left hamstring, allowed six runs - three earned - and seven hits in 2 2/3 innings for Double-A Binghamton at Harrisburg.
UP NEXT
Dodgers: RHP Kenta Maeda (10-4) starts Tuesday's series opener at Arizona.
Mets: RHP Chris Flexen (0-1) pitches Tuesday against visiting Texas in his third big league start.
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