Rain Marathon: Teoscar wins 13 innings to run a home run Dodgers win over Mets in a cross-day battle

Torrential rain disrupted the schedule, but it didn't stop the Dodgers from starting their road trip. After 13 innings, nearly six hours, and eight pitchers were used in the opening game of the series at Citi Field on Friday, the Los Angeles Dodgers narrowly defeated the New York Mets 7-5.

The game was delayed by rain 1 hour and 38 minutes before the game, which caused Clayton Kershaw to leave the game without conceding a point after only two innings. The Dodgers Bullpen was forced to digest the remaining 11 innings, with Matt Sauer and Ben Casparius throwing three innings each, Tanner Scott burying a three-point lead in the ninth inning, and Alex Vesia relayed with Lou Trivino to stop the bleeding. Finisher Luis García closed the innings with 2.1, the longest number of innings pitched since 2017.

"It's almost like a playoff schedule," said head coach Dave Roberts, "to count innings, to deploy the bullshed, even if you know before the game that the pitcher pack is tight." Mets coach Carlos Mendoza is also facing a difficult situation, with the two teams using a combined 15 pitchers.

The decisive moment came in the top half of the 13th inning, when Teoscar Hernández hit a home run straight to the left field wall in the face of a winning chance from automatic runner Will Smith. Andy Pages then flew high and sacrificed to add a bonus as Garcia held on to end the second half of the game.

Kershaw reflected after the game: "In retrospect, it should have been delayed. The left-hand thrower, who made only his second start after knee and toe surgery, was expecting at least five high-quality starts. Rains disrupted plans and overloaded the barn: "This kind of attrition start was tough for the six consecutive customers, but the Met also lost the cowshed, which gave us some comfort. "

Hernandez concluded: "Against a strong bullshed, we just kept fighting and looking for team strikes. The win became the Dodgers' second-longest win after MLB introduced the auto-runner rule (after a 16-inning battle against the Padres in 2021). At the cost of the cattle barn being nearly depleted — with the exception of Jack Dreyer, the pitcher schedule for the rest of the weekend was laid concern.