The Dodgers left Chicago after being swept and lost their first to the Mets at Shea, 4-8.
The hype surrounding Torre’s return to New York was lost when the Dodgers took the loss against the Mets. The Dodgers were down 0-6 after the fourth but the Dodgers added four in two innings to close the gap. In the fifth, the Dodgers added three runs with a solo shot by Jeff Kent, who returned to the lineup, followed by a two-run shot by Blake DeWitt. They added one more in the sixth with Loney’s RBI-single to make it a two-run game, but the Mets ran away with the game in the seventh by adding two more of their own.
Brad Penny took the loss to make his career record against the Mets 5-13, 1-10 at Shea. He lasted just four innings, giving up six runs, five earned, on eight hits for his sixth loss. The Mets tagged Penny for two runs in the third when David Wright hit a two-run homerun. Penny was then roughed in the fourth for four runs, including another two-run homerun given up to Wright. Hong-Chih Kuo then pitched a scoreless fifth and sixth to allow the offense to catch up to make it 4-6. Scott Proctor and Joe Beimel each gave up a run to give the Mets 8 before Cory Wade pitch a one-hit eighth.
The Dodgers will send Clayton Kershaw to the mound Friday to snap their lose streak and bring the team back to .500. Kershaw will make his second career start after earning the no-decision in his first start by giving up two runs through six against the Cardinals. The Mets will start John Maine, who stands at 5-4 with a 3.41 ERA. The Dodgers faced Maine in LA on May 7 and took the loss after Maine held the Dodgers to one run on four hits in 8 1/3.
