The Dodgers hope to continue more of the same against the reeling Mets tonight. Losers of nine of their last 11 games, the Mets have had trouble scoring. From the NY Daily News:
The Mets have been held without a run for 22.0 consecutive innings, dating to the fifth inning on July 4 at Philadelphia. The last time the Mets were held without a run for a period that long was April 23-25, 2004 when the team did not score a run over 22.0 innings.
Couple that with the news that Jose Reyes and Carlos Beltran won't be returning from their injuries as soon as expected, and the Mets have reason to be frustrated. As Michael Obernauer of the NY Daily News harshly reported:
After another awful loss in a season already full of them before the All-Star break, David Wright stood in the home clubhouse Tuesday night at Citi Field and blasted the Mets for the way they've been playing. They were the best hacks Wright has taken all week.
"I just think we stink right now, we're just not very good," Wright said after the Mets' sickly 8-0 loss to the Dodgers. "When you don't pitch, you don't hit, you don't play defense, you're not going to win very many games. We're not playing very good baseball. ... I don't think anybody's having very much fun right now."
Ouch. Hiroki Kuroda gets a chance to extend that Mets scoreless streak. Kuroda has had more trouble against the Mets than any other team, with a 12.00 career ERA in all of two starts. Both starts came last year, and Kuroda totaled only six innings, giving up ten runs (eight earned).
The Dodgers, who saw 210 pitches last night, get the pleasure of facing Oliver Perez, who led the majors in walks last season and is averaging 8.7 walks per nine innings this season.
Note to ESPN and MLB Network: When you are showing highlights of tonight's game, showing actual relevant game action would be appreciated. Its not that I don't enjoy watching Manny Ramirez at-bats, but there are often other relevant events that happen in the game that real baseball fans might want to see. Per last night's box score, here are the top four plays by Winning Team Win Probability Added (wWPA):
1) Manny's two-run single in the second inning to make it 3-0 - shown in the highlights
2) Orlando Hudson's bases-loaded walk in the second, bringing home the first run of the game - not shown
3) The O-Dog's RBI double in the fourth inning to make it 4-0 Dodgers - not shown
4) Clayton Kershaw inducing an inning-ending double play from Omir Santos to end the fifth - not shown
Matt Kemp is 5th in MLB in Wins Above Replacement (WAR). You have until 1pm Thursday to vote The Bison into the All-Star game. As Kim Ng told Clay Fowler of the LA Daily News:
"We think he is a 30 to 35 home run (per season) guy, 90 to 100 RBIs," Dodgers assistant general manager Kim Ng said. "Can you find that kind of power very often in a guy that plays center field like he does?" Ng paused to suppress a laugh. "No," she said.
I saw this obscure fact in the daily game notes: The Dodgers' best eight fielding percentages in Los Angeles have come in the past eight seasons. This season, the Dodgers have committed 37 errors, and have a .988 fielding percentage, which would equal the 2004 club record.
Get your guesses in for "Clogging The Bases" here.
Get your guesses in for the Manny Ramirez T-Shirt Contest here
Game Time: 4:10pm
TV: Prime Ticket, ESPN