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By Jon Weisman
Dan Haren’s third pitch was a microcosm of the fears of Dodger fans. His next 86 pitches summed up all their dreams.
Haren quickly bounced back after a leadoff home run by Curtis Granderson to retire 21 of his final 23 batters, allowing two hits, walking none and striking out six, in the Dodgers’ 6-2 victory over the New York Mets tonight.
With his third strong start in his past four, Haren lowered his ERA over his past 23 1/3 innings to 2.70, with 20 strikeouts and only four walks.
Haren also had a night of extremes at the plate. He bunted into a double play with two on in the third inning, ahead of Dee Gordon’s game-tying RBI, then missed a suicide squeeze in the fifth, before singling home the go-ahead run. Haren leads Dodger pitchers with five RBI in 2014.
Two innings later, the Dodgers took advantage of a key Mets error (sandwiched by Dee Gordon’s MLB-leading 11th triple of 2014 and Matt Kemp’s two-run double for three unearned runs to bust the game open. Gordon was 3 for 5 tonight. A.J. Ellis added an RBI double down the right-field line in the eighth for the Dodgers’ final run.
Robert Palmer
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oldbrooklynfan
It certainly wasn’t what I expected from the Mets. I thought they would come out like a house of fire but they lived up to their won & Loss record. I’m hoping Greinke will will be on his game tonight to maybe keep the Mets tame again. They can be very surprising at times.