NEW YORK _ The best reflection of Saturday's pitching matchup between National League Cy Young competitors was this: When both exited, a blank slate remained.
Jacob deGrom shut out the Dodgers over seven innings, while Hyun-Jin Ryu did the same to the Mets. They both departed, leaving a scoreless game to be decided late in a place where late-game drama has become the norm.
In the bottom of the eighth, Rajai Davis became the next unlikely hero in a second half full of them when he smoked a two-out, bases-clearing double off Julio Urias, giving the Mets a 3-0 lead they held. New York, still in a postseason push, needed this victory after it lost the day before.
For deGrom, the same old story began to emerge: Dominance, but no run support. In 169 career starts, he has surrendered one or no runs 78 times. But too often recently, his team hasn't been able to capitalize as it should.
It did on Saturday.
The Dodgers used three pitchers to complete the eighth inning. Their lineup is potent, their defense stellar and their starting pitching reliable, but their bullpen _ like most in the league _ has been shaky this season. It is perhaps the best chance to beat Los Angeles, which hopes to appear in its third straight World Series this October.
Todd Frazier was hit by a pitch and represented the go-ahead run. Soon after, Urias entered as two of his teammates had not been able to get the job done. Urias hit Brandon Nimmo, who, as he always does, threw the bat and sprinted to first. Then, Amed Rosario worked a five-pitch walk to load the bases.
Perhaps some criticized Mickey Callaway when they saw Davis in the on-deck circle. After all, Michael Conforto was on the bench (though he has struggled against lefties).
Davis washed away those concerns by making this place erupt.
Over seven, deGrom three-hit the Dodgers _ not allowing a runner to advance past second _ and struck out eight while walking none. The righty also stepped up in the two spots that could have troubled him.
In the second, deGrom retired consecutive batters to strand runners on first and second. When the Dodgers put men on first and second in the seventh, deGrom fanned Gavin Lux to end the inning.
Otherwise, he dazzled. After allowing baserunners in the second, deGrom retired 16 in a row until a seventh-inning single.
Ryu lowered his ERA to 2.35, while deGrom's became 2.61. The Cy Young race remains tight because we did not gain much further clarity on a night when both starred.
The Mets then went to Seth Lugo, and he pitched a clean eighth. After the Mets took the lead, they went to Justin Wilson _ not Edwin Diaz _ in the ninth. He earned a save, setting up a rubber match on ESPN's Sunday Night Baseball.
Because of the two starting pitchers on Saturday, the game remained close until the late stages. Each team finished with three hits, but one was more clutch than the rest.
