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Los Angeles Times
Los Angeles Times
Sport
Jack Harris

Dodgers capitalize on costly Mets mistakes to extend winning streak to six games

NEW YORK — Here are some things you can buy with $380 million.

Your own Hawaiian island.

A custom-built, luxury Airbus A350.

Or one of the most disappointing teams in Major League Baseball history.

Guess which one Mets owner Steve Cohen got.

At Citi Field on Saturday night, the Dodgers didn’t so much beat the New York Mets 5-1 as the Mets imploded themselves.

They chased Dodgers starter Tony Gonsolin from the game after just five innings and 54 pitches, but failed to score against L.A.’s inconsistent bullpen.

They gave up the go-ahead run in the eighth inning on a botched double-play, then committed a cacophony of errors in a three-run ninth inning that put the game away.

Entering the season, their high-priced roster — which will clock in at above $380 million after luxury tax penalties, according to Cot’s Baseball Contracts, by far an MLB record — was supposed to challenge clubs like the Dodgers for National League supremacy.

Instead, they find themselves eight games under .500 and nine back in the playoff race; a stark reminder that, for all the imperfections of this Dodgers season, they’re still vastly superior to the horror show currently taking place in Queens.

The Dodgers won Saturday behind a monstrous game from Mookie Betts, who went 4 for 4 with a home run and an intentional walk, and a go-ahead rally in the eighth.

Max Muncy went from first to third on a hit-and-run with one out in the frame. Then, he scored when Mets first baseman Pete Alonso made a poor throw on a potential double-play. After fielding a ground ball from David Peralta, Alonso fired a throw to second that was high and wide, forcing shortstop Francisco Lindor to leap and make the grab.

That delayed Lindor’s throw to first enough for Peralta to reach the bag safely, the call being upheld after a challenge from the Mets.

In the ninth, the Dodgers tacked on three more runs after third baseman Brett Baty lost a pop up in the infield. It was the Mets’ second error of the game — right fielder DJ Stewart dropped a shallow fly ball earlier in the night — and gave the Dodgers plenty of breathing room to clinch a weekend series win in Queens and extend their winning streak to six games.

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