Mets, Brandon Nimmo discuss play on Freddie Freeman's fly ball in 10th inning: 'It's not as routine as it looked'

Freeman's fly ball dropped in for a double to score Dodgers' game-winner

6/4/2025, 6:14 AM

The Mets and Dodgers were in the middle of another extra-inning classic when the teams entered the bottom of the 10th on Tuesday night.

With the score tied 5-5 and the Dodgers having men on first and second and one out, Freddie Freeman came to the plate looking to drive in the winning run. Jose Butto, who saved Monday’s game in the 10th inning, threw a first-pitch sweeper that the first baseman took the opposite way.

It looked good off of Freeman’s bat and the Los Angeles crowd reacted to what looked like a potential walk-off homer. However, as Brandon Nimmo went back toward the left field wall, he turned to see the ball, turned again to check the wall and by the time he checked for the ball, it dropped next to him as Tommy Edman -- the ghost-runner -- scampered around third and crossed home plate for the 6-5 win.

“Not an easy play, especially in that situation," Mets manager Carlos Mendoza said after the game. "He’s playing shallower than normal and that’s a tough play in left field for a lefty. It’s over your head. Playing in right there, not an easy play."

Mendoza said he wasn't sure if Nimmo lost the ball in the lights but knows that a fly ball from a lefty normally slices away and that the play is "not as routine as it looked."

Nimmo expanded on what happened on the play, echoing his manager that the outfielders were playing shallow to potentially cut off the runner at home on a base hit. He had a beat on the ball over his right shoulder as he scampered back toward the wall. When he went to check the wall and looked back up, the ball had moved about 15 feet over his left shoulder.

"[The ball] acted a little bit differently than I’m used to," Nimmo said of the play. "It’s unfortunate, would have loved to have made that play. Two outs and get out of there. Sometimes the ball doesn’t go the way you think."

He added: "I didn’t have enough time to put my foot on the ground and make up the play. I had a read on it, as long as it was staying in the park, I had a play on it. I knew we had to get back quick because we were playing for the base hit. I thought I was going to be able to make a play on it. It just did what I didn’t think it was going to do there at the end. I have a lot of years of experience that tells me the reaction of these things, and that was out of my reaction. I was very surprised to find it on the other shoulder. Very unfortunate time for that to happen."

Despite the loss, the Mets and Dodgers continue to play intense baseball for a game in June. The Mets took two out of three games when the two teams met at Citi Field -- that included a 13-inning affair -- and now the first two games in LA have gone to extras, with the teams splitting the matchups.

Nimmo appreciates the atmosphere of their series and likened it to the postseason.

"It’s been a playoff-type atmosphere. Dodger Stadium has been rocking. It’s been a lot of fun," Nimmo said. "It’s unfortunate a game like that ends on a play like that. It’s been so good and so high-intensity and good baseball. That’s just the way it goes sometimes."

The two will meet again in the third game of their four-game set on Wednesday night.

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