FLUSHING - Out of the frying pan and into the fire.
The Los Angeles Dodgers rolled into Citi Field and humbled the Mets, sweeping a weekend series and inflicting pain in the process. The Dodgers hung a four-spot on Noah Syndergaard in the third on Friday night and staved off a late comeback for a 5-4 win. Saturday, they spoiled the return of Jacob deGrom, tagging reliever Justin Wilson for two in the eighth to squeeze out a 3-2 decision and on Sunday night, got two home runs from Cody Bellinger in a 7-0 thrashing.
Adding injury to insult, Marcus Stroman left his start Sunday in the top of the first with a mild shoulder imflammation and Seth Lugo departed with back stiffness after just returning to the pen after recovering from a hamstring strain.
Not much positivity to talk about. In fact, starting to venture into dire concern. The Mets (34-25) now lead the NL East by a half game over the Braves...and to make matters worse, they host the 47-13 Houston Astros for two games starting on Tuesday.
NOTES: deGrom, who made his first start since May 20, when he suffered arm imflammation, battled through seven innings, yielding seven hits, three walks and an earned run while striking out five.
Yoenis Cespedes belted his first homer of the season Saturday
Wilson Ramos is riding a seven-game hitting streak in which he's batting .625 (15 for 24).