The New York Mets look to carry the momentum from their late-inning magic into Thursday's matinee when they shoot for a series win over the Los Angeles Dodgers at Citi Field.
The Mets evened their series versus L.A. with Wednesday's 7-3 win thanks to Jordany Valdespin's grand slam in the bottom of the 10th inning. After Lucas Duda was intentionally walked to fill the bags with one out, Valdespin sent Josh Wall's offering over the fence for the win.
"I wasn't thinking about hitting a home run, I was just trying to hit the ball well," Valdespin said.
David Wright tied the game in the bottom of the ninth with an RBI single for the Mets, who have alternated wins and losses over the past six games and are 3-2 on a nine-game homestand.
Mets starter Matt Harvey was 4-0 entering the night and did not record a decision. He gave up three runs in six innings with seven strikeouts and one walk. Bobby Parnell was the winner with a scoreless inning of relief.
New York will host Philadelphia for three games this weekend, but will go for the series win over the Dodgers with Jeremy Hefner on the mound. Hefner is 0-2 with a 7.07 earned run average in four games, three of which have been starts, this season. He threw four innings in Saturday's 7-6 loss to Washington and was reached for three runs and four hits in the no-decision.
Hefner, a right-hander, has no record and a 4.50 ERA in three career relief appearances against the Dodgers.
Los Angeles appeared to be on the right path with back-to-back wins following a six-game slide, but Wednesday's loss proved otherwise.
Wall served up the big homer to Valdespin and starter Ted Lilly pitched well in his season debut. Sidelined until last night after offseason shoulder surgery, Lilly struck out seven and allowed one run in five innings.
Matt Kemp hit his first home run of the season, a two-run shot, and finished with three RBI for the Dodgers, who registered just four hits. Brandon League was charged with a blown save.
"We have to score more runs," Kemp said.
The Dodgers have high hopes that this will be their year after a spending spree in the offseason. They are 4 1/2 games off the NL West lead and will return to Chavez Ravine this weekend for a six-game homestand versus Milwaukee and Colorado, which currently leads the division by 1 1/2 games ahead of defending champion San Francisco.
Korean lefty Hyun-Jin Ryu will make his fifth start of the season and the rookie is 2-1 with a 4.01 earned run average. He has lasted six innings in each of his outings this season and did not record a decision in Saturday's 7-5 loss at Baltimore in the first game of a doubleheader.
Ryu was tagged for five runs and eight hits in six innings for the no- decision. He managed to strike out six batters and has that many in each of his three trips to the mound. Ryu is 1-0 in two road assignments and will face the Mets for the first time.
New York was 3-4 against the Dodgers a season ago and had lost the last five meetings between the two clubs.
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