LOS ANGELES — Fundamentally, it was an eyesore.
That went for both teams last night, but the Mets didn’t have a weapon resembling Dodgers ace Clayton Kershaw to help compensate for their blunders.
Ugly defense and baserunning were the culprits for the Mets in an 8-3 loss before a sellout crowd at Dodger Stadium that snapped their four-game winning streak.
The Mets made three errors, perhaps none bigger than catcher Mike Nickeas missing Miguel Batista’s throw home with the bases loaded in the seventh inning. Four unearned runs scored in the inning, essentially sinking the Mets, who finished a 4-3 road trip.
Dillon Gee (5-7) took the loss on a night when the All-Star Kershaw allowed one earned run — two others were unearned — over seven innings on five hits and three walks with nine strikeouts.
“Dillon pitched fine and we didn’t help him,” manager Terry Collins said.
The Mets fell short in their attempt to complete the first four-game sweep in their history against the Dodgers.
With the Dodgers leading 4-3 and the bases loaded in the seventh, Batista entered and did his job, getting Juan Rivera to hit a chopper back to the mound with one out. But Nickeas missed the throw home, allowing two runs to score.
“[Batista] tried to rush it — he knew Dee Gordon was hauling down the line, and he threw a little open-chested,” Nickeas said. “But the throw was very much under control for me, and I should catch that ball every time.”
Ronny Cedeno and Justin Turner made errors in the fifth inning that allowed the Dodgers — who ended a seven-game losing streak — to tie the game at 3-3.
If the defense wasn’t bad enough, the Mets (43-37) also made two boneheaded baserunning plays in the first inning that prevented them from building a potential cushion against Kershaw.
The Mets took a 1-0 lead on Scott Hairston’s RBI single, but Hairston was thrown out trying to advance to second base on the play. Andres Torres was earlier picked off first by Kershaw — officially a caught stealing — to set the tone for the inning.
The Mets’ defensive woes started in the fifth, allowing the Dodgers to score two runs and tie the game at 3-3. First, Cedeno dropped David Wright’s potential double-play relay, allowing Juan Uribe to reach second. After Kershaw’s sacrifice bunt put runners on second and third, the first baseman Turner botched Gordon’s grounder allowing a run to score. A.J. Ellis then tied the game with a sacrifice fly.
“It’s tough because you’re battling out there and getting the results you want, the groundballs and stuff,” said Gee, who allowed four runs, two of which were unearned, over six innings. “But sometimes it doesn’t go your way, and you have to brush it off and try to get the next guy.”
After allowing the two unearned runs in the fifth, Gee created his own mess in the sixth, allowing a run on James Loney’s RBI groundout to give the Dodgers a 4-3 lead. Rivera walked to begin the inning before Adam Kennedy’s double.
Gordon’s two errors in the third allowed the Mets to score two unearned runs and take a 3-1 lead against Kershaw.
“We didn’t play well,” Collins said. “We didn’t run the bases very well early and we didn’t catch the ball and then late some base on balls got in the way along with some bad fielding.”