Brandon McCarthy, Dodgers will try to keep Mets grounded

One night after eight home runs were hit at Dodger Stadium, the Dodgers will turn to Brandon McCarthy to keep things grounded against the Mets on Tuesday night.

McCarthy is 5-3 with a 3.14 ERA in 11 starts this season, with 51 strikeouts and 17 walks in 63 innings. But what has stood out is his ground ball rate, up to 45.8% this season after 36.1% in his first two abbreviated seasons with Los Angeles.

The right-hander posted a career-high 52.6% ground ball rate in 2014, when he reached 200 innings for the first time in his career and parlayed that into a four-year, $48 million contract with the Dodgers.

McCarthy has allowed only one home run in his last six starts, and has given up just four home runs on the season.

The Dodgers with a win on Tuesday would achieve their fourth winning streak of at least five games this season, and their third such streak in a 25-game stretch. The Dodgers are 18-6 in their last 24 games, and 10 of their last 11.

Coming into the season, the unquestionable strength of the Mets was their starting pitching, the anchor of a team that reached the playoffs in each of the last two seasons. But injuries to Noah Syndergaard, Matt Harvey and Steven Matz have hampered things, but even the healthy starters have been underwhelming.

The Mets rank 13th in the National League with a 5.00 ERA among their starting pitchers, and are 10th with a 4.70 FIP. New York starters average 5.48 innings per start, ranking 10th in the NL.

Robert Gsellman owns a 5.50 ERA and 4.57 FIP on the season in 15 games, including 12 starts. Solely as a starter, Gsellman has a 5.73 ERA and 4.73 FIP, while averaging 5.39 innings per start.

Game info

Time: 7:10 p.m. PT

TV: SportsNet LA, ESPN

The ESPN broadcast will not be blacked out in Los Angeles, and will have Jon Sciambi and Rick Sutcliffe on the call.