Gavin Stone, Dodgers finish twin-bill sweep of woeful Mets

Gavin Stone tossed seven strong innings and Will Smith and Miguel Vargas hit solo home runs Tuesday night for the visiting Los Angeles Dodgers, who beat the New York Mets 3-0 to complete a doubleheader sweep.

The Dodgers overcame a late two-run deficit to win the opener 5-2 in 10 innings. Mookie Betts delivered the tiebreaking RBI single leading off the 10th as Los Angeles avoided its first six-game losing streak since 2019.

The Mets have lost seven of eight to fall to 7-18 this month.

Miguel Rojas had a run-scoring double in the second inning of the nightcap, while Stone (5-2) scattered three hits with seven strikeouts and no walks while not allowing a runner past first base. He retired 10 in a row from the third through the sixth and 13 of the final 14 batters he faced overall.

Alex Vesia walked one and struck out three over the last two innings for his second save.

Betts, Andy Pages and Freddie Freeman had two hits apiece. Freeman, whose two-run 10th-inning homer provided insurance in the opener, finished with five hits in the twin bill.

Mark Vientos, Francisco Lindor and Brandon Nimmo had singles for the Mets, who have scored three runs or fewer 11 times this month. New York was hitless in seven at-bats with a runner on base in the nightcap.

Smith homered to left against Jose Quintana (1-5) with one out in the first for the Dodgers to strike first.

Pages led off the second with a single and scored on Rojas’ one-out double. Vargas added another insurance run by homering on the first pitch he saw with two outs in the sixth.

Quintana gave up three runs on eight hits and no walks with three strikeouts over six innings. Dedniel Nunez and Josh Walker combined to yield two hits over three scoreless innings of relief.

–Field Level Media