Edwin Diaz blows another save as Dodgers rally past Mets

LOS ANGELES — Thirty pitches into Edwin Diaz’s nightmare ninth inning, he finally recorded an out — only for the game to end on the same play.

Alex Verdugo’s walk-off sacrifice fly to leftfield Wednesday night completed Diaz’s collapse and the Mets’ stunning 9-8 loss to the Dodgers. It was his second blown save of the season, both in the past five days.

“Easily the worst day of my career,” Diaz, who pitched for the fourth time in five days, said through an interpreter. “I thought I threw excellent pitches, threw strikes. I was throwing the ball where I wanted to. They just got me.”

They got him good and hard, repeatedly. Joc Pederson and Max Muncy opened the inning with back-to-back homers. Justin Turner and Cody Bellinger followed with back-to-back doubles. An intentional walk of Corey Seager and infield single from Matt Beaty loaded the bases. That brought up Verdugo, who ended it. Diaz’s four earned runs allowed matched his season total entering the night.

That left the Mets (27-28) shocked that the Dodgers, the team with the best record (37-19) in the National League, have been able to consistently hit what the Mets feel are good pitches. It happened to Diaz. It happened to Noah Syndergaard, who grinded through six innings (three runs). It happened to Jacob deGrom on Monday.

“We were a little perplexed at some of the pitches they hit,” manager Mickey Callaway said. “It seemed like they were well-executed with really good stuff.”

Said Syndergaard: “I’m still scratching my head on how they were able to put those balls in play.”

And Diaz: “They just hit everybody well. We all did our job. We tried to do our job. We executed pitches that we thought were good pitches, but they’re just hitting everybody. So we’ll have to look into that.”

The Mets also might have to look into Diaz, who simply has not been as good this year as he was last year for the Mariners. His ERA is 3.22, still good but close to his career-high 3.27 from 2017. He has allowed five home runs in 25 games, equaling his total from last year (73 games). He is striking out batters at a lower rate and allowing significantly more hard contact — trends that only got worse Wednesday.

“He’s been great,” Callaway said.

That mess of a ninth ruined what had been a remarkably successful night for the Mets. Pete Alonso (two homers) and Dominic Smith (one homer) combined to go 6-for-9 with five RBIs and five runs scored. Todd Frazier (2-for-5, two runs) and Adeiny Hechavarria (2-for-4, two RBIs) also continued their hot hitting. Amed Rosario homered.

Syndergaard scattered seven hits and two walks and struck out five. He walked Walker Buehler, the Dodgers’ starter, twice, matching his previous career total (166 plate appearances) for walks of pitchers. His ERA is 4.90.

In a testament to the state of the Mets’ Seth Lugo-less bullpen, Callaway stuck with Syndergaard in the sixth inning, despite him beginning the frame at 103 pitches. Syndergaard responded with his first perfect inning since the first.

Then came another blown late lead for the Mets’ bullpen. With a five-run lead in the seventh inning, Callaway decided to go with his best relievers. Robert Gsellman allowed a run in the seventh. Jeurys Familia allowed a run in the eighth. Diaz finished it.

No matter who the Mets brought in, the Dodgers crushed him.

“I haven’t seen too many teams that can do this consistently from top to bottom,” Callaway said.

Alonso is a reliable clubhouse voice if you’re looking for the bright side.

“I have the utmost confidence that the next time [Diaz] gets the rock in his hands, he’s going to shove it,” Alonso said. “Everyone is going to have their bad night every once in a while, and that’s OK. He’s a hard worker, he takes pride in what he does, and next opportunity he gets, he’s going to shut the door.”