Dodgers at Mets
The Los Angeles Dodgers have dominated the New York Mets this season, but then again, they’ve dominated just about everyone. The hottest team in baseball aims for its 13th win in 14 games when the Dodgers face the host Mets in the finale of a three-game series Sunday.
The Dodgers have won 43 of their last 50 games, marking the best 50-game stretch since the New York Giants also went 43-7 in 1912. "It is history in the making," Dodgers manager Dave Roberts told reporters. "This is who we are. This is a team that's going out there expecting to win, playing the right way and we are finding ways to win games. We win in different ways.” On Saturday that consisted of being no-hit for 4 2/3 innings before belting five home runs to rally for a 7-4 victory. The Mets have lost three straight and six of their last seven, and they’ve dropped eight in a row to the Dodgers, including all six meetings this season.
TV: 8 p.m. ET, ESPN
PITCHING MATCHUP: Dodgers LH Hyun-Jin Ryu (3-6, 3.83 ERA) vs. Mets LH Steven Matz (2-4, 5.50)
Ryu has not allowed more than two runs in his last five starts, posting a 2.60 ERA over that stretch. The 30-year-old South Korean is coming off his best outing of the season after striking out seven over seven scoreless frames in a no-decision against San Francisco on Sunday. Ryu is 2-0 with a 2.16 ERA in four starts against the Mets, and he limited them to two runs over five innings in a no-decision June 22 in Los Angeles.
Matz is winless in his last six starts, and he has posted a whopping 11.78 ERA over his last five outings. The 26-year-old showed improvement last time out, holding a potent Colorado lineup to three runs over five-plus innings - at Coors Field, no less - but he didn’t get a decision. Matz is 2-0 with a 2.50 ERA in three starts against the Dodgers, and he allowed three runs in six innings of a no-decision at Los Angeles on June 22.
WALK-OFFS
1. Los Angeles has hit eight home runs in the series and owns 23 blasts in six games against the Mets this season.
2. Mets OF Michael Conforto hit one of New York’s four home runs Saturday and is 14-for-40 with three homers during a nine-game hitting streak.
3. Dodgers C Yasmani Grandal likely will get the day off Sunday after exiting Saturday’s game with back spasms.