Mets overcome Max Scherzer ejection to beat Dodgers behind Brandon Nimmo’s big day
LOS ANGELES — Max Scherzer’s ejection from Wednesday’s game could have residual effects, but in the moment the Mets survived.
Brandon Nimmo’s 5-for-5 performance that included a homer, and six innings of solid work from the bullpen carried the Mets to a 5-3 victory over the Dodgers.
The Mets, in winning for the sixth time in seven games, won the series.
Scherzer was ejected by umpiring crew chief Phil Cuzzi before the bottom of the fourth inning after he was examined for illegal substances.
It left manager Buck Showalter to stretch out a bullpen that has received plenty of recent work.
Jimmy Yacabonis, Jeff Brigham, Drew Smith, David Robertson and Adam Ottavino combined to allow three runs over the final six innings.
Robertson allowed an RBI double to J.D. Martinez in the eighth that pulled the Dodgers within a run, but got the final two outs with the lead intact.
Mark Canha provided insurance in the ninth with a two-run double that extended the Mets’ lead to 5-2. Nimmo’s fifth hit of the afternoon contributed to the rally.
Nimmo blasted a two-run homer in the fifth against Noah Syndergaard that gave the Mets their initial runs.
“I understood the situation, but I was just trying to have a good at-bat and pass the torch and just try to win another ballgame,” Nimmo said. “Things are going to happen to us for the rest of the season. That is just the nature of the game. It’s also the nature of New York. Things are going to happen so we have got to be able to roll with the punches and take a punch and get back up and try again.”
After Scherzer was ejected, Yacabonis was given as much time as he needed to warm up.
The right-hander fired 2 ²/₃ innings and allowed one run on two hits with one walk and one strikeout.
“After the first check [on Scherzer] I was moving around down there just in case something happened and I was ready to go,” Yacabonis said.
Schrezer pitched three scoreless innings — he was returning from discomfort beneath his right scapula that had pushed back his start by three days.
He later said he owed Yacabonis a steak dinner for the manner in which he responded to a difficult situation.
The Dodgers loaded the bases against Scherzer in the first inning (when he threw 28 pitches), but didn’t touch him in the second and third.
“I felt like I settled in, was starting to find rhythm, being able to execute pitches, and my back wasn’t flaring up,” Scherzer said. “I don’t know what my final pitch count would have been today, but I did feel good.”
