LOS ANGELES, CA — So, on Jackie Robinson Day at Dodger Stadium, how could the Mets and Dodgers top the last two nights in Los Angeles?
Shohei Ohtani, 1-0, 0.00 ERA, was on the mound for the Dodgers, but not in the lineup Wednesday due to soreness from being hit by a pitch on his right shoulder/back on Monday, while the Mets started Clay Holmes 2-1, 1.50 ERA.
Shohei Ohtani and Clay Holmes each took the bump of Dodger Stadium Wednesday night to start the three game series finale of Mets-Dodgers in LA – Image Credit: Francisco Rodriguez/Latino Sports
Perhaps another tight pitcher’s duel would be on the way, similar to Tuesday night with Nolan McLean and Yoshinobu Yamamoto. But this is baseball, where trying to predict the outcome of a nine-inning game is next to impossible.
Though we are in Hollywood, where everything is scripted, baseball is unpredictable, and that is what makes it the “best game on dirt.”
The Dodgers scored first in the second inning when, after a Dalton Rushing double, Hyeseong Kim parked a 372-foot home run into the right field pavilion, giving LA a 2-0 lead, which marked the 27-year-old’s first home run of the 2026 season and just the fourth of his MLB career.
Hyeseong Kim’s two-run homer in the second inning of Wednesday night’s Dodger win over the Mets marked his first of 2026 and fourth in his MLB career – Image Credit: Francisco Rodriguez/Latino Sports
At that point, Ohtani had given up only one hit over the first four innings. But in the fifth inning, the Japanese right-hander gave up his first earned run of the season when MJ Melendez, who was making his Mets debut, hit a ground-rule double to right field, scoring Carson Benge to push it to 2-1 Dodgers.
Holmes left the game after 5 innings with a line of (88 pitches, 63 for strikes) striking out four and surrendering two runs on four hits and a walk, and then it became Teo Time—meaning Teoscar Hernández’s time to put his imprints on the game.
The 33-year-old right-handed slugger from Cotui, Dominican Republic led off the bottom of the sixth inning with a 370-foot shot into the right field pavilion, off of reliever, Tobias Myers on the second pitch he threw, giving the Dodgers a two-run lead again. He now has four home runs on the season with 12 RBI and is slashing .310/.349/.569.
Teoscar Hernández stamped his mark on Wednesday night’s series finale between the Mets and Dodgers, hitting a solo-blast in the bottom of the sixth inning – Image Credit: Francisco Rodriguez/Latino Sports
Ohtani, totaling out to 95 pitches, 63 for strikes, left the game with a line of six innings pitched, two hits, one run which was earned, two walks, and 10 strikeouts. Not bad for a guy with a sore pitching shoulder.
And then the two-run deficit evaporated in a flash when, in the eighth inning, a single, a walk, and a single loaded the bases for Rushing, who hit the first pitch 412 feet to dead center field for a grand slam to push it to a 7-1 game.
And then to add insult to injury, Kyle Tucker hit a 374-foot home run, his second of 2026, to nail the coffin shut on the three-game sweep of the struggling Mets.
Final Score: LAD 8 – NYM 2
Kyle Tucker added on to LA’s win over the Mets Wednesday night with a solo home run in the bottom of the eighth inning which put the Dodgers up 8-1 – Image Credit: Francisco Rodriguez/Latino Sports
The Mets, off to Chicago for the Cubs next, ran into a trio of elite pitching performances here in Hollywood against the Dodgers, compiling just three runs on 14 hits compared to the Dodgers, scoring 14 runs on 23 hits.
“We’re not playing good baseball right now,” Mets manager Carlos Mendoza said in the postgame.
“Everybody’s frustrated. We gotta use the off day tomorrow to regroup and get back at it because we gotta get going here.”
With the loss on Wednesday in LA, the Mets have dropped their last eight consecutive games and sit at the bottom of the NL Wild Card picture at 7-12 (five games back from NL East lead) Image Credit: Francisco Rodriguez/Latino Sports
Maybe things will turn around for the Mets when New York (7-12) gets three-time LatinoMVP Award recipient Juan Soto, from Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic, back from the injured list. Yet with that said, an eight game losing streak is inexcusable at any point of the year, but more so this early on in the season with the Mets’ last win coming on Tuesday, April 7th.
“It’s tough right now,” Bo Bichette said of the team’s losing streak. “If we knew the answer, we’d do it. But we’ll keep working to try and figure it out.”
As for LA (14-4), San Diego, (12-6), and Arizona, (11-8) are staying close to the Dodgers, so this three-game sweep was very important in their quest for a NL West division, and a third World Series in a row.
Follow us on Social Media for updates and exclusive content
Instagram: @latinosportsoficial
Facebook: Latino Sports
Twitter: @latinosports
