Michael Conforto breaks slump as clutch hit caps Dodgers' rally - ESPN

LOS ANGELES — Michael Conforto was hitless in his past 15 at-bats when he walked to the batter's box in Thursday's eighth inning with the score tied and the Los Angeles Dodgers looking to split a four-game series against the New York Mets. His batting average, two months into a one-year, $17 million contract, was down to .162. The home crowd was beginning to boo whenever he made outs.

Then, Conforto got the hit he had been clamoring for — a two-out, line-drive single that gave the short-handed Dodgers a 6-5, come-from-behind victory.

It was Conforto's first hit with runners in scoring position since March 31.

«It's been a grind up to this point,» Conforto said. «All I want to do is go up there and help us win, and in a lot of those situations, I've come up short. To come through today was everything.»

Landon Knack, forced into the rotation with Blake Snell, Tyler Glasnow and Roki Sasaki all nursing shoulder injuries, put the Dodgers in a 3-0 hole through the first three innings, during which he served up home runs to Starling Marte, Brandon Nimmo and a red-hot Pete Alonso.

But the Dodgers came back against Reed Garrett in the bottom of the eighth. Mookie Betts drew a leadoff walk and scored on Will Smith's double down the left-field line. Two batters later, the Mets committed another critical blunder — two nights after Nimmo got spun around on Freddie Freeman's walk-off double and two innings after Marte got thrown out by Smith's back pick at third base.

Andy Pages hit a slow roller to third with the contact play on. Smith darted toward home, came to an abrupt stop, assuming he'd get caught in a rundown, then slid in with the tying run after Brett Baty's throw bounced just far enough beyond Mets catcher Francisco