Los Angeles Dodgers left -handed Clayton Kershaw is planning to have a good start against the New York Mets when he faces them for the second time in less than two weeks on Tuesday.
Kershaw has only made three starts since the return of knee and toe operations in the low season, and his way against the Mets on 23 May only two innings lasted before it was interrupted by rain in New York.
The 18-year-old veteran seems to be trending in the right direction after missing the first two months of the season.
Kershaw showed some rust in his seasonal debut 17 May against the Los Angeles Angels and then had his short outing against the Mets before giving up one point over five innings against the Cleveland Guardians on Wednesday. He was far from satisfied.
“There are just some things that I have to hammer,” said Kershaw. “Just because I don’t feel at my best, I think I made some bad habits last year. And then I haven’t thrown for a while, so there are just some growing pains, I think, with the first pair.”
In 18 career the regular season against the Mets, Kershaw has been impressive and goes 11-0 with an ERA of 2.00. He also made two impressive starts versus the METS in the 2015 National League Division Series, which threw a few no-decisions on a 2.63 ERA.
During the first two games their series last weekend, the Dodgers had their attack rolling, while they piling up 26 runs in successive victories over the New York Yankees. However, they were held on three runs in a loss for the Yankees on Sunday before they fell to the Mets in 10 innings on Monday.
Shohei Ohtani rode two of the three points of the Dodgers in the Monday game. He hit a solo -home run in the seventh inning, his 23rd to bind the Seattle Mariners’s Cal Raleigh for the Major League lead. Ohtani has six homers in his last eight games.
Los Angeles struggled to be offensive against a few soft starters on Sunday and Monday, but will be confronted on Tuesday with an above-average Fastball from New York Right-Hander Tylor Megill (4-4, 3.52 ERA).
Megill, a resident of Los Angeles, is 0-1 with a 3.18 ERA in three lifelong start against the Dodgers. He had a three-aftering relief performance vs. The Dodgers in Game 3 of last season’s NL Championship series, and he gave up four points on five hits with three free runs.
Francisco Lindor had a lead-off home run for New York on Monday and rode a single in the 10th inning in the last run of the game. He has four home runs in his last four games.
The Mets have won 27 consecutive games when Lindor has hit a home run. They also won three of the four against the Dodgers – the last three – since they fell when the teams gathered in the NLCs last October.
“It is a different feeling that runs into this place, knowing that this has ended the season,” said Mets manager Carlos Mendoza about Dodger Stadium. “It is a bit like a sour taste, but also understanding that after everything we have experienced as a team to go to the NLCs, when nobody thought of this team, we eventually confronted with the team that the World Series won. …
“Don’t try to look back. Try to win a baseball game and win the series.”
-Field level Media
#Deadspin #Dodgers #Clayton #Kershaw #Mets #series