Sep 13, 2019 4 min read

NEW YORK – Noah Syndergaard again wobbled with Wilson Ramos as his catcher while Clayton Kershaw was right in the pocket, sending the Los Angeles Dodgers over the New York Mets 9-2 Friday night.

Kershaw (14-5) stopped a rare three-start skid and improved to 10-0 in regular-season play against the Mets. Rookies Gavin Lux and Edwin Ríos homered as the NL West champion Dodgers won their ninth in a row at Citi Field dating to 2016.

Coming off a four-game sweep of Arizona, Syndergaard and the Mets fell flat. They dropped three games behind Chicago for the second NL wild-card spot. Milwaukee and Philadelphia also are ahead of New York, which was eliminated from contention in the NL East.

Earlier in the week, it was revealed Syndergaard (10-8) recently went to his bosses, expressing his wishes to pitch to someone other than Ramos. Known more his hitting than defense, Ramos got this start – manager Mickey Callaway wanted Ramos’ bat in the lineup, trusting Syndergaard’s “mentality” and adding, “I have faith in Noah he’s going to pitch a good game no matter who’s catching him.”

It worked, at least for three innings. But in the fourth, a walk to Cody Bellinger and singles by Corey Seager and A.J. Pollock produced one run, then Lux homered to dead center.

Ramos swiped at a towel on the bench when the inning ended. Syndergaard was pulled after five innings and 102 pitches, allowing four runs on five hits and two walks.

Syndergaard’s shaky outing left him with a 5.20 ERA in 16 starts with Ramos catching. The big right-hander has a 2.22 ERA in 11 starts throwing to backups Tomás Nido and René Rivera.

Atlanta 5, Washington 0: Mike Soroka allowed one hit over six innings, Ozzie Albies had three hits including a home run and the Atlanta Braves beat the Washington Nationals, 5-0.

Atlanta moved 9½ games in front of Washington in the NL East and reduced its magic number to six.

Washington leads the NL wild card race.

Braves first baseman Freddie Freeman was lifted for precautionary reasons in the fourth inning with right elbow soreness, according to the team.

Atlanta’s Nick Markakis, back after missing 43 games with a fractured left wrist, had a single, a double and a sacrifice fly and made a sliding catch in left field to take a hit away from Victor Robles.

Las Vegas inquired about Diamondbacks:

A report says Las Vegas followed neighboring Henderson in talks with the Arizona Diamondbacks last year, possibly about moving the Major League Baseball team from Phoenix to southern Nevada.

The Las Vegas Review-Journal reports it obtained documents showing the team and Las Vegas signed a nondisclosure agreement in August 2018, two weeks after signing a similar pact with Henderson.

The Review-Journal reported the Henderson contact last month, but said discussions stalled.

The team has said a number of cities expressed interest, but it remains focused on Phoenix.

It was unclear Friday if discussions remained active with Las Vegas about what the newly obtained document called “certain mutually beneficial opportunities.”

American League

Minnesota-Cleveland postponed: The opener of a three-game AL Central showdown series between Minnesota and Cleveland has been postponed by rain.

The teams played two full innings Friday night before powerful thunderstorms swept through Progressive Field. The game was called after a wait of 1 hour, 57 minutes.

It will be made up as part of a day-night doubleheader on Saturday with the first game starting at 1:10 p.m. The second game is scheduled to begin at 7:10 p.m.