I’m starting to sound like a broken record on Sunday’s. “The Mets go for/try to avoid the sweep…”. Luckily today it’s, “The Mets go for the 4 game sweep of the Dodgers tonight” on ESPN’s Sunday Night Baseball. It’s almost like we don’t even have to bother watching (although why wouldn’t you?) when RA or Johan pitches. Just put another one in the win column. Yesterday afternoon/night, Johan was awesome again. 8 more shutout innings, while only allowing 3 hits. Red hot Ike Davis, put the game out of reach with a 3-run bomb to center field in the 6th inning. The 5-0 win moves the Mets only 2.5 games behind the Nats for first place in the NL East.
Earlier this afternoon R.A. Dickey and David Wright were named to the NL All-Star Team. Both players were nominated by their peers along with the managers and coaches. But for some reason, whether it’s the fact that Mets fans can’t be bothered, or that the rest of the fans in MLB don’t pay attention, but Pablo Sandoval of the Giants was “selected by the fans” to start at 3B. Wright was 1.6 million votes behind Sandoval. Sandoval is hitting .307 with 6 HRs and 25 RBI. He has a respectable .366 OBP, .482 slugging percentage, and .848 OPS in 44 games. Those #’s fall WAY below Wright’s numbers across the board. What a travesty.
Tonight’s task certainly won’t be an easy one. The right-handed hitting lineup will be in there against Clayton Kershaw (5-4 2.74 ERA), the NL’s reigning Cy Young winner. For the Amazin’s, Dillon Gee (5-6 4.42 ERA) will look to bounce back off of a mediocre start in Chicago.
Interesting Facts/Trends for tonight’s game:
-With a win tonight, this would be the Mets first ever sweep of a 4 game series against the Dodgers.
-The Mets have not allowed a run in their last 23 innings, dating back to the 5th inning Friday night. This marks the 4th time this season where they’ve had a streak of 20+ scoreless innings.
– R.A. Dickey was 5-0 with a 0.93 ERA in June
-The Mets are 7 games over .500, their high water mark of the season is 8 games over .500, which was after a win against the Cards on June 3rd.
-David Wright has a .389 Career average against the Dodgers. The only player with a higher career average since 1900 against the Dodgers is Jim Eisenreich with a .405 batting avg.
Tonight’s game can be seen on ESPN at 8 pm and can be heard on WFAN 660 AM.
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New York Mets1) Andres Torres CF
2) Ruben Tejada 2B 3) David Wright 3B 4) Scott Hairston LF 5) Lucas Duda RF 6) Justin Turner 1B 7) Ronny Cedeno 2B 8) Mike Nickeas C 9) Dillon Gee LHP |
Los Angeles Dodgers1) Dee Gordon SS
2) A.J. Ellis C 3) Bobby Abreu LF 4) Juan Rivera RF 5) Adam Kennedy 2B 6) James Loney 1B 7) Juan Uribe 3B 8) Tony Gwynn Jr. CF 9) Clayton Kershaw RHP |
Who’s HOT for the Mets?…Reuben Tejada has 10 hits in 31 at bats since coming off the DL, including a 4-for-5 night on Friday night.
Who’s HOT for the Dodgers?…No one. Moving right along…..I mean when you haven’t scored a run in like 50 of your last 52 innings, no one is hot.
Pitching Matchup
Dillon Gee (5-6 4.42 ERA) will start for the Mets tonight. In Dillon’s last start against the Cubs, he didn’t have very good command of any pitches. He lasted only 5 innings, while allowing 9 hits, 2 walks and 4 runs. That start ended Gee’s string of 7 consecutive quality starts. For the Mets to be in contention deep into the summer, Gee needs to regain that deadly changeup and deliver quality start after quality start. In two career starts against the Dodgers, Gee is 0-1 with a 5.73 ERA.
Reigning Cy Young winner Clayton Kershaw (5-4 2.74 ERA) will take the mound for the Dodgers tonight, trying to stop the bleeding. The Dodgers have lost 7 straight games and are about to tall off the face of the earth. Luckily for the Dodgers, Kershaw is on the mound. in 5 career starts against the Mets, Kershaw is 4-0 with a 1.39 ERA. The last time Kershaw faced the Mets at home was July 7 came under similar circumstances. He allowed only five hits with nine strikeouts in eight innings of a 6-0 Dodgers win. That win avoided the possibility of a 4 games sweep at the hands of the Mets. Coincidentally, that start also game against Dillon Gee.
