Even though the Dodgers took two of three from the New York Mets at Citi Field this past weekend, it absolutely positively should have been a series sweep.

It wasn’t.

Instead, the Mets scored the first run of Sunday’s two hour and 47 minute series finale (following a 20 minute rain delay) in the bottom of the fifth inning when 24-year-old Dodgers right-handed starting pitcher Bobby Miller committed a fielding gaffe to give New York a then 1-0 lead in the Mets eventual 2-1 10-inning win.

“Yeah, I think I should have made it out of that last (fifth) inning, I’ve gotta make that play,” Miller admitted postgame of his miscue. “I just… really no excuse for that. I think I gotta make that play. We’ve practiced it enough.”

‘That play’ was a comebacker to Miller off the bat of Mets center fielder Brandon Nimmo with the bases loaded and one out in the bottom of the fifth that deflected off Miller’s glove which, if fielded cleanly, would have been an easy force out of Mets right fielder Starling Marte at the plate, but instead forced Miller to throw to first base to get Nimmo, allowing Marte to score. But because an out was recorded on ‘that play,’ Miller was not charged with an error and it was ruled a fielder’s choice, even though Miller absolutely “…should have made it out of that last inning.”

Had Miller made ‘that play,’ he and his team would have escaped the inning unscathed and taken a 1-0 lead on a RBI single by (wait for it…) Dodgers second baseman Mookie Betts in the top of the eighth inning for what would have been (and should have been) a then 1-0 Dodgers lead … and 1-0 Dodgers win.

Instead, the game went into extras tied 1-1, with the Mets winning it on a double by pinch-hitter Luis Guillorme allowing Mets placed runner Brett Baty to score easily from third base to give New York the 2-1 walk-off win.

To his credit, the Elk Grove Village, IL native and Dodgers first round draft pick in 2020 out of the University of Louisville owned up to his game-changing play, which was certainly a difficult but professional thing to do for a guy appearing in only his ninth major league game.

But ‘It is what it is,‘ (as the kids today say) and taking two out of three is the next best thing to a series sweep.

Fortunately for Dodgers manager Dave Roberts‘ team, the Arizona Diamondbacks lost to the Toronto Blue Jays on Sunday to remain 2.0 games behind his team in the NL West. Unfortunately for Roberts team, the San Francisco Giants won their fifth straight game to jump over the D-backs and into second place in the NL West and are now an uncomfortable 1.5 games behind his division-leading Dodgers.

The Dodgers open a three-game interleague series with the AL East second-place Baltimore Orioles at Camden Yard on Monday afternoon at 4:05 pm PDT. After a scheduled off day on Thursday, they will then play three against the AL West first-place Texas Rangers at Globe Life Field in Arlington before returning home on Monday, July 24 to begin a nine game homestand against the Blue Jays, Cincinnati Reds, and Oakland A’s respectively.

Play Ball!

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