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“[Baseball] breaks your heart. It is designed to break your heart…”

– A. Bartlett Giamatti

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Baseball will break your heart, as the quote goes, and Sunday afternoon it did. To be fair, the Boys in Blue are coming off of a long stretch of games with only one day off. Thirty games in thirty-one days to be exact. They were bound to lose a few, but that does not mean any dropped games ever feel good, especially with the roster that Los Angeles boasts. In that time span, they garnered nineteen wins and dropped eleven.

On Sunday afternoon, the Dodgers lost 5-4 in the tenth inning to the Mets – this despite a valiant comeback effort – to split the four-game series. Some even likened the weekend matchup to a potential playoff challenge should both teams continue to lead the National League. Dodgers Manager Dave Roberts summed up the loss Sunday during his postgame interview.

“We just sort of shut down for seven innings and just didn’t threaten. Could have had an opportunity to put those guys away,” Roberts explained. “And let a team like that hang around, they’re going to put some runs on the board. And that’s what happened.

“To our credit to bounce back and put it into extra innings, you know we did good by that,” Roberts added. “We start with a guy on second base in the tenth and couldn’t push one across and that’s just how it goes.”

The bounce-back he is referring to took place in the bottom of the ninth inning and had the Dodger Stadium crowd of 48,672 roaring in the stands. The Dodgers were down by two runs when catcher Will Smith hit a lead-off home run to make it a one-run game at 4-3. Both designated hitter Justin Turner and center fielder Cody Bellinger grounded out trying to get to first base. Then with two outs, left-fielder Chris Taylor ripped a double on a line drive out to the left field.

At this point, the fans were on their feet and chanting as recently called-up infielder Eddy Alvarez came up to the plate. He had gotten his first hit as a Dodger Sunday when he singled in the bottom of the fifth inning. It was his time to shine again by singling on a grounder to center field bringing the speedy Taylor in to score, thus tying the game 4-4 in the bottom of the ninth.

When interviewed after the game, Alvarez said he would cherish the moment forever and that he just wanted to do his part for his team.

“Just to crack this roster and to be a little piece of the algorithm is incredible,” said a grateful Alvarez. “I’m going to count my blessings and I’m going to do what I can to show up every day.”

The infielder shared his ninth-inning strategy at the plate that helped tie the game.

“They were kind of beating me with fastballs all day so I knew I wanted to be aggressive first-pitch because they were throwing a lot of first-pitch strikes,” Alvarez summarized. “I just put a good enough swing, got it by (Mets shortstop Franciso) Lindor, you know, gave our team the best chance.”

As the game went into extra innings, Mets’ first baseman Pete Alonso started as the placed runner on second base. He quickly scored when Mets designated hitter J.D. Davis doubled to center field to give New York a 5-4 lead.

The Dodgers were not as fortunate in the bottom of the tenth inning. Dodgers Second baseman Gavin Lux was the “ghost runner” on second base, taking third base when first baseman Freddie Freeman grounded out.

Dodgers Shortstop Trea Turner was eventually able to get on base, but it took some work. Initially called a foul ball, Turner called on Roberts to review the pitch. Sure enough, Turner had hit Mets catcher Tomás Nido‘s glove with his bat during the swing and the foul ball call was overturned and rightly ruled catcher’s interference by first base umpire C.B. Bucknor. This stroke of good luck awarded Turner first base, who promptly took second base on defensive indifference.

The Dodgers now had the tying and winning runs in scoring position with Smith at the plate. Although the Dodgers catcher did his best, he struck out swinging on a foul tip to end the threat and the game.

Though players and fans alike were disappointed with the game loss, no one can deny that the Dodgers fought till the very last out.

After the game, Trea Turner summed it up best:

“We’re capable of a lot. We expect a lot out of ourselves, but we know things are going to happen,” Turner said. “We’re going to lose every once in a while and whatnot, but it’s how we bounce back, how we keep our focus on what we’re doing. I think guys are level-headed in here. We got a good mindset in here, a good clubhouse. You know we’re going to keep chugging through and hopefully, the next 31 games, 30 games, are a little better.”

The Boys in Blue are definitely known for bouncing back. It is the reason they have a record for leading their division year after year. Luckily, there are 162 games in a regular season and plenty of opportunities for all of the Dodgers to hit their stride.

Let’s go Dodgers!

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