LOS ANGELES — A stretched-thin bullpen got the Mets to the ninth inning with a lead Tuesday night, but that wasn’t enough to secure victory against this dangerous Dodgers lineup.
Overtime it went for a second straight night, this time with the Mets on the losing end of a 6-5 decision in 10 innings at Chavez Ravine.
After Max Muncy’s second homer of the game, a blast leading off the ninth against Huascar Brazobán, tied it, the Dodgers won on Freddie Freeman’s double in the 10th against José Butto.
The right-hander Butto had intentionally walked Shohei Ohtani to start the frame before Mookie Betts was retired. Freeman’s double brought in the automatic runner from second base.
Edwin Díaz was among the unavailable relievers, a night after he worked for the third time in four days and got hit with his first blown save this season.
The Mets rallied to win that game in the 10th inning.
On this night the Mets had a four-game winning streak snapped and fell a half-game behind the Cubs for the NL’s best record.
Tylor Megill’s night was headed to hell in a hurry after the Dodgers scored four runs in the first inning against him.
But the right-hander persevered and got the Mets through the sixth without surrendering another run.
Along the way he matched a season high by throwing 105 pitches, helping limit a stretched-thin bullpen’s usage.
Overall, he allowed four earned runs on four hits and one walk with seven strikeouts over six innings. Lefty Brandon Waddell pitched the seventh scoreless before Reed Garrett escaped the eighth with the lead after the tying run reached third base with nobody out.
Pete Alonso’s RBI single in the first gave the Mets an early lead against Clayton Kershaw. After Starling Marte singled and reached second on a wild pitch, Alonso delivered with two outs.
But the Dodgers jumped on Megill in the bottom of the inning.
Freeman’s RBI double tied the game (Freeman reached third when Jeff McNeil dropped the cutoff throw) and after Teoscar Hernández walked, Will Smith hit into an RBI fielder’s choice.
Muncy followed with a rocket into the right-field seats that placed the Mets in a 4-1 hole.
Kershaw walked Tyrone Taylor and Alvarez in the second, but Ronny Mauricio — in his first plate appearance with the Mets since 2023 — hit into a double play between the walks.
Kershaw escaped the inning by retiring McNeil.
Juan Soto launched a two-run homer in the third that sliced the Dodgers’ lead to 4-3.
Francisco Lindor singled leading off before Soto crushed a full-count fastball from Kershaw for his 11th homer this season. The blast was Soto’s third in his last four games.
Soto reached over the high side wall in right field for a highlight reel grab on Smith’s foul ball in the fourth. Andy Pages doubled later in the inning, but with two outs Megill struck out reeling Michael Conforto.
The Mets rallied with two runs in the fifth for a 5-4 lead.
Alonso delivered his second two-out hit of the night, a double that tied it 4-4, before Brandon Nimmo hit a grounder to Freeman and beat Kershaw to first base, with Marte scoring.
Both runs were unearned after Muncy misplayed Marte’s grounder for an error, giving the Mets runners on first and second with one out.
The future Hall of Famer Kershaw was removed after 4 ²/₃ innings in which he allowed five runs, two unearned, on six hits and three walks with two strikeouts.
