Kenta Maeda, Dodgers battle Noah Syndergaard, Mets

Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said before Monday's game that this series with the Mets would be low scoring, and so far he has been correct. Kenta Maeda and Noah Syndergaard will try to keep that going in the third of four games in the matchup on Wednesday night at Dodger Stadium.

There have been 11 total runs in the first two games of the series, with the Mets scoring six and the Dodgers five.

Maeda (83.9 mph) and Syndergaard (84.7) enter play Thursday with the two lowest average exit velocities among National League starting pitchers, per Baseball Savant, and both have parlayed that into excellent results.

Maeda has lasted at least six innings in each of his six big league starts, and sports a 1.66 ERA to go with 35 strikeouts and 10 walks in his 38 innings.

The flame-throwing Syndergaard (97.6 mph average fastball per PITCHf/x) sports a 2.58 ERA in his six starts and 38 innings, with 49 strikeouts and eight walks.

Maeda will try to extend a streak by Dodgers starting pitchers who have already set a franchise record with 10 consecutive games of six or more strikeouts.

The Dodgers have had a lot of practice in scoring three or fewer runs this year, doing so 19 times, including 13 times in their 15 home games. But they are also 7-12 in those games, which might not sound that good but the winning percentage (.368) is roughly three wins better than the MLB winning percentage in such games (.213).

One of those wins came on Tuesday, with Trayce Thompson driving the rescue wagon with a walk-off home run, his second home run in as many nights.

But with the right-handed Syndergaard starting for the Mets, Thompson won't start on Wednesday. Instead, Carl Crawford mans left field. The only change in the lineup for Wednesday is that Justin Turner sits in favor of Howie Kendrick at third base.

Game info

Time: 7:10 p.m. PT

TV: SportsNet LA