The play was lost in a haze of bad Noah Syndergaard pitches and wonder about the righty’s relationship with catcher Wilson Ramos.
But the fourth inning Friday night began with Matt Beatty grounding a ball closer to short than third. Jeff McNeil ranged several steps to his left and made a quick-handed, do-or-die scoop before throwing out Beatty. Syndergaard, though, allowed the next four batters to reach and score, and the Dodgers were off to a 9-2 romp.
That obscured McNeil’s play while delivering a real-time gut punch as the Mets fell three games back of the second wild card.