Francisco Lindor, Mets' late-inning heroics continue in 9-4 win over Dodgers

It wasn't pretty, but the Mets' lineup proved superior to the vaunted Dodgers offense in a 9-4 win on Friday night in Los Angeles.

After getting out to a 4-0 lead, shaky defense allowed the Dodgers to tie up the game but the late-game heroics continued as New York scored four runs in the seventh and eighth innings to extend their winning streak to five games.

Here are the takeaways...

-Yoshinobu Yamamoto was on the mound for the Dodgers after jilting the Mets in the offseason and had a Jekyll and Hyde-type of game. On one hand, the right-hander struck out nine batters, on the other, the Mets lineup was all over his fastball and curveball.

DJ Stewart launched a first-pitch fastball 387 feet over the right-center field wall to lead off the second inning. The Mets would work counts and launched Yamamoto's pitches all over the field to score two runs in the second and another two runs in the third. They could have added two more in the fourth but the right-hander got out of a second and third with one-out situation with two strikeouts of Brandon Nimmo and Starling Marte using his splitter.

Yamamoto would settle down, sitting down seven straight batters at one point, and pitch into the sixth inning for the first time this season. The right-hander pitched six innings (99 pitches/72 strikes), giving up four runs (three earned) on seven hits and one walk while striking out nine.

-Sean Manaea was on the mound and was solid for the Mets against a dangerous Dodgers lineup. The southpaw would find himself in trouble here and there, which cost him a couple of runs, but he would get out of it with his mix of pitches.

In the fifth inning, with men on first and second and one out, he got Mookie Betts to fly out and Freddie Freeman to strike out. Sandwiched in there was a Shohei Ohtani RBI single to cut the Mets lead to 4-2, but the left-hander gutted through his start. The first-year Met went five innings (85 pitches/48 strikes) giving up two runs on four hits, three walks and striking out three.

-The sixth inning was where the lead got away from the Mets. Reed Garrett started the inning and has not allowed a run in five appearances this season. However, Joey Wendle -- starting at third for the injured Brett Baty -- made two errors in the inning to prolong Garrett's outing. The right-hander did begin to lose his control after the errors, but came back to strike out Max Muncy with the bases loaded and one out, but gave up a game-tying two-run single to Chris Taylor, who was 0-for-his-last-31.

Brooks Raley, Adam Ottavino and Jake Diekman combined to pitch the final three innings, giving up just three base runners. Betts, Freeman and Ohtani went a combined 1-for-13 with four strikeouts.

-Francisco Lindor hit a two-run homer in the seventh to give the Mets back the lead. It was Lindor's first extra-base hit as a lefthanded hitter and his first hit with runners in scoring position -- was 0-for-16 to start the season.

Marte would tack on two more runs in the eighth inning with a two-out single to give the Mets an 8-4 lead. Stewart would pick up his third RBI on a one-out single to plate Lindor in the ninth.

Harrison Bader continued his hot hitting by going 4-for-5 with an RBI and a run scored. It was his second career four-hit game.

-Francisco Alvarez left Friday's game with a thumb injury in the second inning. The young catcher reached on an error and jammed his thumb trying to hold his body up after he stumbled rounding first base.

Omar Narvaez took over and went 0-for-3.

Game MVP: Francisco Lindor

It was a feel-good night for Lindor. He was 0-for-3 before his seventh-inning homer to put the Mets back in the lead. The homer came at the perfect time for the Mets. They just gave up their four-run lead and all the momentum was on the Dodgers' side, but one swing gave it back to New York.

Lindor would pick up an infield single in his final at-bat, also batting lefty, to finish 2-for-5. He also stole his first base of the season.

An all-around great finish for the Mets shortstop.

Highlights

What's next...

The Mets and Dodgers continue their three-game series with a 4:05 p.m. start on Saturday.

Jose Butto (0-0, 0.75 ERA) will take on Gavin Stone (1-1, 6.14 ERA).