Thoughts on a Dodgers-Mets marathon, and the pitching aftermath

The Dodgers played their longest game of the season by time, and tied for the longest MLB game of the season by innings, needing 13 frames to beat the Mets in a wacky, hilarious, and at times infuriating game in the series opener at Citi Field that started on Friday but ended on Saturday in New York.

And that’s before adding in the one-hour, 38-minute rain delay that began the process of unraveling each team’s pitching plans for the weekend. Thirteen innings tied for the longest game in the majors in 2025, along with Cardinals at Pirates on April 9.

Even had the game ended in nine innings, it still would have qualified for weird or at least odd, because of a few plays.

Right before the rains came in the third inning, Michael Conforto tagged up on a fly ball to the gap. He left second base as soon as the ball hit the glove of Tyrone Taylor, who bobbled but ultimately caught the ball. To the utter surprise of Wayne Randazzo and Dontrelle Willis on the Apple TV+ call, Conforto was well within his rights to do so.

The Mets appealed that Conforto left too early, but to no avail, thanks to MLB Rule 5.09(a)(1):

“Catch Comment: A catch is legal if the ball is finally held by any fielder, even though juggled, or held by another fielder before it touches the ground. Runners may leave their bases the instant the first fielder touches the ball. A fielder may reach over a fence, railing, rope or other line of demarcation to make a catch. He may jump on top of a railing, or canvas that may be in foul ground. No interference should be allowed when a fielder reaches over a fence, railing, rope or into a stand to catch a ball. He does so at his own risk.

If a fielder, attempting a catch at the edge of the dugout, is “held up” and kept from an apparent fall by a player or players of either team and the catch is made, it shall be allowed.”

(Added emphasis mine)

Four pitches later, the game was delayed by rain, which gave me time to remember that Apple TV+ broadcasts allow you to choose the team radio feeds of the game to listen to, so I switched over to KLAC AM 570 the rest of the way.

Rick Monday did know the rule, and made references to the play often in the next few innings, with Stephen Nelson noting on the broadcast that Monday had his rule book open to the very page of the rule.

A more obscure play came in the fourth inning, after the rain delay. Pete Alonso flew out to right field, and Teoscar Hernández threw out Starling Marte at home plate to seemingly end the inning. But third base umpire Tripp Gibson called obstruction on third baseman Max Muncy, who was several feet away from both the bag and Marte, because Muncy was blocking Marte’s view of the play in right field.

You see something new every day.

Monday and Nelson had several innings worth of barbs for the obstruction call. Their back-and-forth on the broadcast made the game more enjoyable, even as the later innings descended into madness.

The game got progressively weirder, including Tanner Scott moving officially into embattled territory by allowing three runs in the ninth inning to send this one into extra innings. He also blew Tuesday’s game against Arizona, and on Friday was pitching for the third time in four days, the first time he did that this season.

Rain in the third inning forced both teams to abandon their starting pitchers (Clayton Kershaw and Griffin Canning) after a 98-minute delay. The Mets used all eight relievers and the Dodgers used seven, including Luis García getting the final seven outs on just 14 pitches, without allowing a run. The Dodgers did not allow a run during the four extra innings.

Matt Sauer and Ben Casparius each pitched three innings on Friday.

Jack Dreyer was the only Dodgers reliever who didn’t pitch Friday. He’ll likely see action behind Tony Gonsolin on Saturday, and it would be an upset if the Dodgers don’t call up another pitcher for extra coverage, at the very least.

From Bill Plunkett’s game story in the Orange County Register, manager Dave Roberts said, “There was some usage certainly that we’re going to talk through as far as protecting some downside in the next handful of days. But there were some good things that came out of tonight.”

Among the healthy, available pitchers on the 40-man roster, J.P. Feyereisen (optioned May 15), Justin Wrobleski (May 16), and Ryan Loutos (May 17) can’t yet be recalled without replacing someone going on the injured list because their 15 days in the minors aren’t up. Plus, Wrobleski just started for Oklahoma City on Thursday.

That leaves Noah Davis, who threw 40 pitches and got four outs on Friday night in Triple-A, Nick Frasso, who started Wednesday, and Bobby Miller, who last pitched Sunday (throwing six scoreless innings in his best outing of the year) and was scheduled to start Saturday for Oklahoma City.