LOS ANGELES — The most current definition of “eureka” was the flow of manager Mickey Callaway’s pen scribbling the names Pete Alonso and Dominic Smith into the same starting lineup Wednesday.
And the most current definition of “ouch” was Edwin Diaz’s subsequent ninth-inning meltdown that squandered a terrific night’s work by the two big boys.
Diaz recorded just one out and surrendered four runs in the ninth, sending the Mets to their worst loss of the season, 9-8 to the Dodgers at Chavez Ravine.
Alex Verdugo’s sacrifice fly brought Cody Bellinger sliding across home plate with the winning run and the sound of “I Love LA” blaring from the stadium speakers.
Joc Pederson and Max Muncy homered in Diaz’s inning from hell before Bellinger slapped an RBI double that pulled the Dodgers within 8-7. With the bases loaded, Verdugo hit a shot to left that was plenty deep enough to bring in the winning run.
Robert Gsellman and Jeurys Familia contributed to the bullpen carnage, allowing a run apiece in the seventh and eighth innings respectively, as the Mets (27-28) squandered an 8-3 lead.
The Bash Brothers, Alonso and Smith, were a combined 6-for-9 on a night the Mets blasted four homers.
Alonso homered in the first and fifth innings, with Smith on base each time. Smith homered in the seventh, and carried his bat almost the entire distance to first base before flipping it, after Amed Rosario had cleared the center-field fence leading off the inning.
Smith started 10 games in left field last season, but had been relegated to backup duty at first base, despite his hot bat pinch-hitting. The dynamic changed Wednesday, when Callaway inserted Smith into the No. 2 hole as the left fielder. Smith, with his 3-for-5 performance, raised his average to .370.
Noah Syndergaard wasn’t sharp, but kept the Mets in the game by allowing three earned runs on seven hits and two walks with five strikeouts over six innings. It came after Syndergaard (4-4) was hammered by the Tigers in his previous start. Syndergaard’s ERA dropped slightly, from 4.93 to 4.90.
Alonso’s second homer of the night against Walker Buehler, a shot into the left-field seats, gave the Mets a 5-3 lead in the fifth. The blast was Alonso’s 10th in May to establish a club rookie record for homers in a month. Alonso had hit nine in April to tie Darryl Strawberry’s club rookie record. Carlos Beltran in 2006 was the last Mets player to hit 10 homers in May.
Syndergaard received help in surviving the fifth. Corey Seager launched a shot that eluded Carlos Gomez’s glove at the center-field fence, but Seager kept running around second and got thrown out at third trying to stretch the hit into a triple. The assist went to Gomez, who threw a strike to Todd Frazier.
Adeiny Hechavarria’s RBI single in the sixth extended the Mets’ lead to 6-3. Frazier’s second hit of the night, a leadoff double, got the rally started before Gomez bunted and Hechavarria drove in his second run of the game.
In the second, Hechavarria stroked an RBI double after Frazier had singled leading off the inning. Hechavarria got caught in a rundown between second and third that ensured Frazier would score on the play.
Syndergaard allowed three straight doubles in the second as the Dodgers pulled within 3-2. Seager and Matt Beaty connected on consecutive doubles before Verdugo hit a shot to left that Smith mishandled. The ball was ruled a double, but easily could have been an error charged on Smith, who started in left field for the first time this season.
Alonso followed Smith’s single in the first with a homer that gave the Mets a 2-0 lead. Buehler allowed five earned runs over five innings before Pedro Baez and Juilo Urias were hit hard in the sixth and seventh.
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