Mets outlast rain, walk-off Dodgers in 10 innings

It took a four-hour rain delay and extra innings, but the Mets managed to salvage a series against the Los Angeles Dodgers on Sunday afternoon at Citi Field with a 2-1 walk-off win.

Luis Guillorme pinch-hit to lead off the 10th with the Mets sending him out to bunt. His first two went foul against right-hander Nick Robertson (0-1), but it didn’t matter. He ripped a double down the right side to score the automatic runner and halt the Mets’ losing streak at four games.

“The bunt didn’t really work,” Guillorme said. “Then he just threw one in to me and I tried to get out of the way but that didn’t work out either. All I was trying to do was get a ground ball to the right side. It worked out.”

Max Scherzer pitched seven innings of one-hit baseball against his former team, holding them scoreless while striking out six and walking three in a performance that manager Buck Showalter called “outstanding.”

Scherzer finally managed to get his slider down after months of struggling with a key pitch. All it took was cleaning the mud off of his cleats.

“Once I had some mud on my cleats, my cleats were a little bit heavier. So in the fourth inning, I wasn’t picking my foot up as high. All of the sudden, the slider was getting down. I was like, ‘Could it really be this simple?’” Scherzer said. “I went out there in the fifth and really focused on taking my left foot and trying to drive it down into the ground, and that’s when it actually clicked. That’s when I started getting my slider down in the zone. That was the fix. It was that simple and that stupid.”

The right-handed ace was in line for the win but the Mets turned to newly-acquired right-hander Trevor Gott in the top of the eighth inning to protect a 1-0 lead.

Gott faced the bottom of the order and put two on before getting an out. The Mets gave him a long leash and it proved to be a little too long. With left-hander Brooks Raley nearly ready in the bullpen, Gott gave up an RBI single to Mookie Betts and the game was tied at 1-1. Raley then came in and got two outs to give the Mets a chance to come back.

Alex Vesia got three quick outs in the bottom of the eighth. Daniel Vogelbach got a one-out single in the ninth off closer Evan Phillips and DJ Stewart stole second pinch-running for him. After eight days off, David Robertson pitched two innings to try to keep the Mets in the game and earn the win (4-2).

“He was a little under the weather yesterday but felt good today and I wanted to make sure he was on the field before we had the off day,” Showalter said. “We knew he was going to pitch today at some point. We got a good thing in David and we’re trying to keep it a good thing.”

Robertson said he “skated by.” He retired the side in order in the 10th, but it wasn’t as easy it he made it look.

“I left one pitch in the middle of the plate (to Max Muncy). It was an 0-0 fastball middle in, it was right in the thunder zone, and I was like, ‘Oh god, it didn’t cut,’” Robertson said. “Ended up getting lucky and got a ground ball out, Lindor was in the right spot. Mookie, I didn’t mean to leave that ball over the plate but he’s such a good hitter, you’ve got to be careful with him at any point, but it stayed in the park today.”

Bobby Miller limited the Mets to one run on three hits, with one walk and five strikeouts over 4 2/3 innings. The Mets took one off Miller in the fifth inning, loading the bases with one out before Nimmo chopped one to the pitcher, allowing Starling Marte to score.

The Mets (43-50) have made it known that they intend to become the East Coast Dodgers, modeling their organization after the one that left Brooklyn for Southern California in 1958. The club has bulked up its analytics department and spent big money on the game’s top free agents. But with a series loss this weekend at Citi Field, it’s clear that the Mets still have a long way to go to catch up to the Dodgers (53-39).

For now, they’re still fighting for a chance to face them again in the postseason.

“You look at the standings and it looks insurmountable, but you just take it one day at a time,” Scherzer said. “You come in here and you just win.”