Andre Ethier hit a tiebreaking single in the ninth inning and the Los Angeles Dodgers, boosted by a sharp outing from Hyun-Jin Ryu, defeated the Mets 3-2 Thursday.
After Ryu and Mets starter Jeremy Hefner each threw seven impressive innings and left with the score 1-all, the Dodgers won a game decided by the bullpens.
Nick Punto opened the ninth with a double off Scott Rice (1-1) and moved to third on a grounder to the right side by Adrian Gonzalez. After an intentional walk to Matt Kemp, Mets manager Terry Collins visited the left-handed Rice on the mound.
The left-handed Ethier put the Dodgers ahead with his hit, and Juan Uribe drove in another run with an infield single for a 3-1 lead.
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Ike Davis led off the Mets' ninth with a home run against Brandon League. But League, who gave up a ninth-inning lead Wednesday in a game the Dodgers lost in the 10th, closed for his sixth save.
Kenley Jansen (1-0) escaped a two-on, no-out jam in the eighth.
Ryu turned in his best and longest outing yet, holding the Mets to three hits. The rookie from South Korea struck out eight and walked three.
Ryu didn't get a lot of backing from the Los Angeles bats while he was in the game — he got plenty of support from the fans, however. A large Korean neighborhood is just one subway stop away from Citi Field, and Ryu had a lot of vocal rooters, starting from his very first pitch.
The 26-year-old lefty blanked the Mets on one single until the sixth. A leadoff walk to Ruben Tejada, a single by Daniel Murphy and a wild pitch on a breaking ball Ryu bounced set up David Wright's tying sacrifice fly.
Ryu gave up a two-out double to Marlon Byrd before striking out Davis to keep the score 1-all.
Hefner began the day with a 7.07 ERA and pitched his best game of the season, too. He limited the Dodgers to three hits, striking out four and walking three.
The Mets put runners at first and second with no outs in the eighth against Jansen before he struck out Wright, retired Lucas Duda on a fly and fanned Byrd.
The Dodgers scored in the first when leadoff man Carl Crawford was hit by a pitch and Kemp hit an RBI single.
NOTES: Uribe drew three walks before his single. ... Collins said LHP Jonathan Niese would have a bullpen session during the day and start as scheduled Sunday vs. the Phillies. Niese was hit near the right ankle by a comebacker Tuesday. ... Dodgers RHP Shawn Tolleson was set for surgery Thursday to repair a herniated disk in his lower back. He's expected to be out three to five months.
Copyright AP - Associated Press
