Noah Syndergaard Hits 2 Home Runs In Mets’ 4-3 Win Over Dodgers

Noah Syndergaard (3-2, 2.53 ERA) showed his versatility on Wednesday evening, smacking two home runs and pitching eight solid innings in the New York Mets’ (21-12) 4-3 victory over the Los Angeles Dodgers (17-17) at Dodger Stadium.

Syndergaard drove in all four of the Mets’ run with a third-inning solo shot and fifth inning three-run blast off Dodgers’ righty Kenta Maeda (3-2, 2.30 ERA). On the mound, Syndergaard allowed one walk, six hits, two earned runs — on homers by Corey Seager and Yasmani Grandal — while striking out six batters.

Manager Terry Collins pulled Syndergaard after the eighth inning with his pitch count at 96. Closer Jeurys Familia allowed an earned run in the ninth but managed to record his 12th save of the season.

Syndergaard’s four runs batted in (RBI) tied a Mets club record for pitchers. Steven Matz was the last pitcher to reach the feat, doing so against the Cincinnati Reds in his MLB debut last season.

It was the first time a pitcher went deep twice in a game since Micah Owings did it for the Arizona Diamondbacks in 2007. Only one pitcher in Mets history has hit two home runs in the same game as Walt Terrell did so on August 6, 1983, per ESPN Stats & Info.

“This is a dream, it’s not real,” said to reporters, including ESPN’s Adam Rubin about going deep twice in the same game.

“I don’t think I ever hit two home runs when I played little league. To be able to two home runs in a big league ball game, especially with a pitcher like Maeda out there… it’s an awesome experience.”

The Japanese import Maeda, enjoying a strong start to his career, suffered just his second loss of the year. After the start, in which he went just five innings, Maeda expressed his disappointing with the subpar outing.

“They were definitely not good pitches, the ones he hit for home runs,” Maeda said to ESPN through an interpreter. “It ended up being a regrettable result that contributed to a total of four runs.”

ESPN Stats & Info noted after the game, the last time the Dodgers allowed two home runs in a game to a pitcher was Lew Burdette in 1958.

“Thor” now has three career home runs as he took now-former Philadelphia Phillies pitcher Sean O’Sullivan deep on May 27, 2015. All three blasts have been tape measure worthy.

Via @ESPNStatsInfo: pic.twitter.com/HBW9mnNPkZ

— Adam Rubin (@AdamRubinESPN) May 12, 2016

Last week, 42-year-old veteran Bartolo Colon made national headlines by hitting his first career home run. In the second inning of an eventual 6-3 Mets win, Colon took San Diego Padres’ starter James Shield deep, giving his team a 4-0 lead. The next day, Matt Harvey had two hits, including a deep RBI double off the center field wall, missing his second career home run by inches.

Collins told the New York Post that assistant hitting Pat Roessler is behind the pitchers’ success with the bats.

“He’s the one who put this in, the whole philosophy about having the mindset of being more offensive and those guys have worked hard at it.”

Side Notes

• It was noted that Syndergaard quietly had his elbow examined following his last start this past Sunday. However, Syndergaard explained to ESPN that it was “just all precautionary.”
• Infielder Wilmer Flores is headed to the 15-day disabled list with a left hamstring injury. He reportedly injured the hamstring on Monday and tried playing through the injury. Swingman Sean Gilmartin is expected to be called up from Triple-A Las Vegas.
• After winning his fifth game of the year on Tuesday, Matz will miss his next start on Saturday due to left forearm soreness. The move is precautionary in nature, but the lefty will be examined in New York on Monday. Righty Logan Verrett is expected to make the spot start in Colorado on Saturday.
• Team captain David Wright is dealing with shoulder soreness. Collins attributed the injury to Wright’s altered arm angle as he tries to not put stress on his lower back. Wright was diagnosed with spinal stenosis last year, and the team continues to monitor his workload.
• Second baseman Neil Walker returned to the starting lineup on Wednesday after sitting out the past few games with a shin injury. He went 1-for-3 with a double in his return.

[Photo by Denis Poroy/Getty Images]