NEW YORK — The ball jumped off Kyle Tucker’s bat for a high-flying home run into the right-field stands at Citi Field.
Tucker had been patient, watching the first four pitches of the at-bat against Nolan McLean, a pair of balls, and a pair of strikes low and in. Then, when McLean missed with a center-cut fastball, Tucker got all of it.
With his first swing in a game the Dodgers would win 4-3 on Saturday, Tucker gave his team the early lead. And for the first time as a Dodger, he homered in consecutive games.
It’s too early to say if this is the Tucker breakout the Dodgers have been waiting for. Nearly two-thirds of the way through the season, he has yet to hit like he has for most of his career.
“It’s coming,” manager Dave Roberts said Friday. “It hasn’t been as consistent or as fast as we’d like, but he’s still going through it. He’s still working hard.”
Tucker’s home run kicked off a three-run third inning for the Dodgers (67-48). They scored the other two with the help of a throwing error and passed ball from the Mets (43-62), while the Dodgers kept the pressure on with a barrage of balls in play.
That was enough to all but decide the game, with Yoshinobu Yamamoto on the mound. The right-hander held the Mets to just one run, coming off a single from Bo Bichette, over six innings.
Though Yamamoto gave up five hits (all singles) and issued three walks, he navigated the traffic with poise.
Tucker came close to hitting a second homer, sending a fastball to left field in the fourth inning. But Mets left fielder A.J. Ewing caught the ball just before the wall. The Dodgers’ final run instead came off a single from Andy Pages in the fifth.
The Mets struck back in the eighth. Edgardo Henriquez issued two walks to open the inning. And both runners scored when closer Tanner Scott replaced Henriquez with two outs and gave up a double to Mets pinch-hitter Tyrone Taylor. But Scott got out of the inning without giving up the lead, and Brock Stewart recorded the save.
Tucker’s home run was his ninth of the season. Last year with the Cubs, he racked up that many by May 3.
“There’s some times where I like to see the ball coming in, put a swing on it, and I can visualize the ball coming off the bat and doing what I want with it, but it doesn’t really go that way,” Tucker said. “Which is a little frustrating. … That happens at times, but it’s seemed to happen a lot more this year. I’ve just got to battle for the next pitch and just continue on with the at-bat.”
Tucker, who has traditionally hung his hat on his strike-zone control, ended a 12-game streak without a walk Friday.
“It was a little weird, because I hadn’t walked in a while,” Tucker said. “So I honestly didn’t know what to do for a sec.
“But I mean, anything to get on base, whether it’s a single, homer, walk, whatever it is, just try to keep going with it.”
He drew another walk Saturday in the sixth.
Against the Mets, Tucker has looked more like the player the Dodgers expected when they signed him to a four-year, $240-million contract, with the power and plate discipline that earned him four straight All-Star nods before this year.
If he can recapture that identity down the stretch and into the postseason, his slow start will fade in the memories of Dodgers fans.
“Everyone in here is supportive, from the players to the coaching staff, everyone,” Tucker said. “At the same point, you’ve got to be confident in yourself. So I just try to go up there every single at-bat and not think about previous ones. Just go up there and try to compete.”
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