Red-hot Dodgers try for sweep of Mets
NEW YORK -- The good news for the New York Mets is Sunday night is the final time they have to face the Los Angeles Dodgers this season.
The bad news for the rest of the National League is the Dodgers are treating the Mets like everyone else.
The historically red-hot Dodgers look to complete a three-game sweep of the Mets on Sunday night, when the two teams square off at Citi Field.
Hyun-Jin Ryu (3-6, 3.83 ERA) is scheduled to take the mound for Los Angeles against New York's Steven Matz (2-4, 5.50 ERA) in a battle of left-handers.
With a come-from-behind 7-4 victory Saturday, the Dodgers (78-32) joined some pretty exclusive company. The victory was the 43rd in the last 50 games for Los Angeles, the first team to go 43-7 during a 50-game stretch since the 1912 New York Giants.
The Dodgers reached rarefied air in an appropriate way Saturday, when they scored all their runs via five home runs. They have hit 23 homers in winning all six games against the Mets this season.
The Dodgers have never swept a season series from the Mets, who began play in 1962.
"They're firing on all cylinders," Mets infielder Neil Walker said following the game. "You know you're going to have your hands full every single time you're out there, from many different angles."
The Dodgers have a whopping 96 homers in their last 50 games and are tied for second in the National League with 161 homers this season.
"You look at guys throughout (the) lineup, they have the ability to drive the ball out of the ballpark," Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said following Saturday's game. "We do a pretty good job of taking balls and swinging at strikes. Simple as that."
The struggling Matz gets the task of trying to slow down the Dodgers' potent attack and prevent the free-falling Mets (49-59), who have lost six of their last seven, from falling a season-high 11 games under .500.
Matz's winless streak hit six starts Tuesday, when he didn't factor into the decision after giving up three runs over five innings as the Mets fell to the Colorado Rockies 5-4. Since his most recent win on June 28, Matz is 0-3 with an 8.53 ERA.
The start against the Rockies at least represented a bit of improvement for Matz, who gave up a whopping 21 runs over 13 1/3 innings in his four previous starts.
Ryu is coming off his best start of the season July 30, when he allowed five hits over seven scoreless innings but didn't factor into the decision in the Dodgers' 3-2, 11-inning victory over the San Francisco Giants. He hasn't recorded a decision in his last four starts despite recording a 2.38 ERA in that span.
The outing against the Giants marked the first time Ryu has thrown seven scoreless innings since he blanked the Los Angeles Angeles over seven innings three years ago Sunday.
Matz is 2-0 with a 2.50 ERA in three career regular-season starts against the Dodgers. Ryu is 2-0 with a 2.16 ERA in four career starts against the Mets.
