Lackluster offense, poor defense cost Dodgers in loss to Mets

NEW YORK — Shohei Ohtani provided the Dodgers some temporary reprieve on Sunday.

Before the game, he faced hitters for the first time since undergoing Tommy John revision surgery in 2023, drawing a large crowd in the visitor’s dugout at Citi Field as he touched 97 mph with his fastball and struck out two batters in five at-bats.

Four and a half hours later, the two-way star dazzled with his bat, as well, belting a second-deck leadoff blast in the first inning to tie the major league lead with 18 home runs on the season.

Alas, there was little else for the Dodgers to celebrate in a 3-1 rubber-match loss to the New York Mets.

They were doomed by bad defense early, the Mets scoring three early runs with the help of two Dodgers errors. They were frustrated by wasted opportunities at the plate later, hitting into three double plays for a second consecutive night.

It sent the team to a series defeat in the weekend’s rematch of last year’s National League Championship Series. It also dropped them to 3-6 in their last nine games and 9-11 in their last 20.

Really, outside of their 8-0 start to the season, they’ve been little better than a .500 team, going just 24-21 since then (even with another seven-game winning streak mixed in to that stretch).

And while they’re still in first place in the NL West, and trailing only the Philadelphia Phillies, Detroit Tigers and New York Yankees for the best record in baseball, they aren’t playing like a team anywhere near that distinction.

On Sunday, examples of why were present throughout.

After Ohtani’s leadoff homer, the Dodgers (32-21) had the chance to add on more. Mookie Betts reached on an error. Freddie Freeman moved him to third with a double. When Will Smith followed with a fly ball to center field, it was deep enough for Betts to break for home. At least, that’s how it seemed.

Instead, Mets center fielder Tyrone Taylor delivered a strike to the plate. And after Betts was initially ruled safe on a feet-first slide, a Mets challenge got the call overturned. A chance to build some early breathing room for starting pitcher Landon Knack had disappeared. And in the bottom half of the frame, the Mets immediately jumped in front.

With two out, Juan Soto hit a sharp grounder to third that Max Muncy bobbled, recovering too late to throw Soto out at first. It was Muncy’s eighth error of the season, second-most among MLB third basemen, and first not to come on a throw.

One pitch later, Pete Alonso made it hurt, whacking a hanging curveball to left for a two-run home run.

The Mets (32-21) scored their only other run against Knack — who delivered just the 14th six-inning start of the season for the club — in the third. With one on and one out, Mark Vientos hit a hard grounder up the middle that Betts impressively got to from shortstop. But then Betts misfired on a flip to second base, sailing the ball over teammate Tommy Edman’s head to put runners on the corners. A fielder’s choice from Soto in the next at-bat scored a run.

The 3-1 deficit proved too much for the Dodgers to surmount.

In the fourth inning, Freeman hit a leadoff single … only for Will Smith to promptly ground into a double play.

Later in the inning, Teoscar Hernández doubled and Max Muncy walked to put two aboard … only for Andy Pages to hit a deep fly ball that died at the warning track in left.

In the fifth, the Dodgers generated their best chance against Mets ace Kodai Senga … only for the Japanese right-hander to induce a two-out grounder from Smith that ended the threat.

In the sixth, Muncy drew a one-out walk … only for Pages to roll into another double play, the 42nd for the Dodgers this season (fifth-most in the majors).

Knack’s strong start (he was charged with just one earned run in six innings while striking out five) and a sturdy showing from the bullpen (Jack Dreyer and Lou Trivino each pitched scoreless frames) kept the Dodgers close. But over the final three innings, their lineup recorded just a lone ninth-inning single from Muncy, ending a day that had begun with so much optimism around Ohtani’s two-way talents with a dud of a performance and frustrating series loss.