NEW YORK _ Three home runs in the first inning would seem to be an omen in any ballgame. So it was in this one, just not in the way you would think. This time, it was the Mets who hit the three homers and it proved ominous because it just gave the Dodgers something for which to shoot.
As if to say, "We'll spot you three and take it from there," the team with the best record in baseball answered with five homers of its own at Citi Field, and left with a 7-4 victory over the Mets. All 11 runs resulted from long balls in a game that kept both teams going, going, going the way they had been.
For the Mets, it was their sixth defeat in the past seven games, with maybe more changes in the wind. For the Dodgers, who strengthened a strong roster at the trading deadline, it was their 12th victory in the past 13 games and their 66th in 66 games in which they have led after the eighth inning.
Now the recurring questions for the Mets are when do they promote Dominic Smith, the Pacific Coast League player of the month for July, and which is the next veteran to be gone?
As odd as it may sound for a fourth-place team that is nine games under .500, the Mets actually face the daily problem of having too many players. Mets manager Terry Collins said before the game Saturday that he and his staff spent 35 minutes trying to decide who should sit and who should be in the lineup.
Jose Reyes, for instance, has been playing well. Asdrubal Cabrera has been swinging the bat well. Then there is the need to get Neil Walker back into the flow after his return from the disabled list. And there is the decision about right field and first base involving Curtis Granderson, Jay Bruce and Wilmer Flores. As it was, Reyes and Bruce sat.
"So, there's a lot of thought that goes into what moves you've got to make," Collins said. "We've got three guys who have been a big part of this team for two years and they deserve the right to get in that lineup once in a while."
That both Granderson and Bruce have cleared waivers, according a report Friday by Ken Rosenthal of Fox Sports, adds to the daily drama. "For those guys, there's probably a thought process involved where they're saying, 'Hey, look, am I going to go this month?' They're not naive. They know that possibility is still there," Collins said. "That could be in their heads. But as I did during the entire week before the trade deadline, I just say, 'Look, you've got to go play. You've got to keep putting up the numbers. Especially when you're a free agent, you've got to put up numbers, whether you're here or anyplace else.' "
One player who never is in the mix of uncertainty is Michael Conforto. Aside from the occasional rest day, he is a fixture for obvious reasons. He has hit in nine consecutive games and started this one with a flourish. On the second pitch from Rich Hill, Conforto drilled a home run into the right-center field bullpen.
"His entire season this year has been one of the bright points" Collins said. "If he gets into a little tailspin, he immediately fixes it. It's all about putting a good swing on the ball. That's his new thought process instead of hitting home runs or anything else ... Everybody talks about his ceiling as an offensive player, I think it's going to be off the charts for the next year or two."
Conforto's shot set off a burst against Hill, the National League pitcher of the month for July. Flores hit a two-out homer to center and Granderson followed with a home run to right for a quick 3-0 lead.
That was a good cushion for Seth Lugo, coming off a five-inning, five-run clunker in a 9-1 loss at Seattle Sunday. Collins said Lugo needs to locate precisely on the corners rather than the heart of the plate. The righthanded pitcher did exactly that at the start this time, not allowing a hit to the Dodgers until there were two outs in the fifth inning.
But there is no holding the Dodgers at bay for long. Chris Taylor, who entered with the fourth-highest batting average (.417, three places behind Babe Ruth) on balls in play in any season since 1920, started the sixth-inning answer with a home run to left. Justin Turner hit a one-out single, then Cody Bellinger hit his 31st homer of the season to tie the score.
And the tie did not last long, either. Yasiel Puig, the No. 8 batter in a stacked Dodgers lineup, led off the eighth against Paul Sewald with a home run to left, putting the Dodgers ahead. Justin Turner led off the eighth against Sewald the same way, making the score 5-3. Corey Seager added a two-run upper-deck shot to right in the ninth against Fernando Salas.
Rene Rivera hit one for the Mets against Ross Stripling in the ninth.
