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Dodgers head to New York for a playoff test against the Mets

By Michael Wittman |
NEW YORK, NY - JUNE 24: Max Muncy #13 of the Los Angeles Dodgers follows through on a first inning home run against the New York Mets at Citi Field on June 24, 2018 in the Flushing neighborhood of the Queens borough of New York City. (Photo by Jim McIsaac/Getty Images)
NEW YORK, NY - JUNE 24: Max Muncy #13 of the Los Angeles Dodgers follows through on a first inning home run against the New York Mets at Citi Field on June 24, 2018 in the Flushing neighborhood of the Queens borough of New York City. (Photo by Jim McIsaac/Getty Images)
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NEW YORK, NY – JUNE 24: Max Muncy #13 of the Los Angeles Dodgers follows through on a first inning home run against the New York Mets at Citi Field on June 24, 2018 in the Flushing neighborhood of the Queens borough of New York City. (Photo by Jim McIsaac/Getty Images)
NEW YORK, NY – JUNE 24: Max Muncy #13 of the Los Angeles Dodgers follows through on a first inning home run against the New York Mets at Citi Field on June 24, 2018 in the Flushing neighborhood of the Queens borough of New York City. (Photo by Jim McIsaac/Getty Images) /

The Dodgers will begin a three-game series with the New York Mets.  After playing the Orioles, this will be a far more intriguing series.

Coming off a series against the lowly Orioles, the Dodgers will have a far more intriguing series in the big apple.  The Mets are currently two games back of the second wildcard spot so every game is crucial to them.  The Dodgers may not be playing for a playoff spot, but they are playing for playoff seeding with the Braves only trailing them by a few games for NL home field.

For the Dodgers, this series will give them a chance to bounce back especially starting pitching wise.  Clayton Kershaw and Hyun-Jin Ryu have been in a slump recently and they will look to get strong starts under their belt to get some momentum going heading into the postseason.  Ryu is also still fighting for the NL Cy Young award.  Here is a preview of each game in the three-game series.

PHOENIX, ARIZONA – AUGUST 31: Starting pitcher Clayton Kershaw #22 of the Los Angeles Dodgers throws a warm-up pitch during the first inning of the MLB game against the Arizona Diamondbacks at Chase Field on August 31, 2019 in Phoenix, Arizona. (Photo by Christian Petersen/Getty Images)
PHOENIX, ARIZONA – AUGUST 31: Starting pitcher Clayton Kershaw #22 of the Los Angeles Dodgers throws a warm-up pitch during the first inning of the MLB game against the Arizona Diamondbacks at Chase Field on August 31, 2019 in Phoenix, Arizona. (Photo by Christian Petersen/Getty Images) /

Game One: Clayton Kershaw (3.06 ERA, 3.74 FIP) vs. Noah Syndergaard (4.06 ERA, 3.47 FIP)

Clayton Kershaw is coming off one of his worst starts of the season as he went just four innings while allowing three runs against the Giants, a team he has traditionally owned.  His start before that was not much better as he allowed five runs in five innings to the Diamondbacks.  Kershaw will look to get back on track against the Mets and provide the Dodgers some length after a few bullpen games.

After a disappointing first half with a 4.68 ERA, Thor has been much better in the second half of the season.  Even with a disaster outing against the Cubs two starts ago (allowed 9 runs) he has posted a 3.12 ERA since the All-Star break.  Back on May 29th against the Dodgers, Syndergaard allowed three runs to the Dodgers and accused the Dodgers of cheating.  Hopefully, Thor is left wondering how the Dodgers beat him after Friday night.

LOS ANGELES, CA – SEPTEMBER 04: Pitcher Hyun-Jin Ryu #99 of the Los Angeles Dodgers throws against the Colorado Rockies during the fourth inning at Dodger Stadium on September 4, 2019 in Los Angeles, California. (Photo by Kevork Djansezian/Getty Images)
LOS ANGELES, CA – SEPTEMBER 04: Pitcher Hyun-Jin Ryu #99 of the Los Angeles Dodgers throws against the Colorado Rockies during the fourth inning at Dodger Stadium on September 4, 2019 in Los Angeles, California. (Photo by Kevork Djansezian/Getty Images) /

Game Two: Hyun-Jin Ryu (2.45 ERA, 3.18 FIP) vs. Jacob deGrom (2.70 ERA, 2.84 FIP)

At one point this season, Hyun-Jin Ryu was leading Jacob deGrom by a wide margin in earned run average but it is not much closer after Ryu’s latest skid.  Hyun-Jin will be coming off of extended rest and look to pitch like he did in the first half.  Ryu has posted an ERA of 3.93 in the second half after an ERA of 1.73 in the first half.  His ERA is over six for August and September.

Jacob deGrom, on the other hand, has come on strong in the second half pitching to an ERA of 1.85 in the second half of the season.  Jacob is one of Ryu’s competitors who could win the NL Cy Young along with Max Scherzer.  While this is only one regular-season game, it will have quite the intrigue as the Mets battle for a playoff spot with two Cy Young candidates pitching against each other.

Cody Bellinger hit a home run against deGrom earlier this season and could provide another big home run to get his MVP odds going once again.

BALTIMORE, MARYLAND – SEPTEMBER 10: Walker Buehler #21 of the Los Angeles Dodgers pitches against the Baltimore Orioles at Oriole Park at Camden Yards on September 10, 2019 in Baltimore, Maryland. (Photo by Patrick Smith/Getty Images)
BALTIMORE, MARYLAND – SEPTEMBER 10: Walker Buehler #21 of the Los Angeles Dodgers pitches against the Baltimore Orioles at Oriole Park at Camden Yards on September 10, 2019 in Baltimore, Maryland. (Photo by Patrick Smith/Getty Images) /

Game Three: Walker Buehler (3.14 ERA, 2.83 FIP) vs. Zack Wheeler (4.21 ERA, 3.61 FIP)

Walker Buehler had an inconsistent first half posting an ERA of 3.46 but he has been a little more consistent in the second half, pitching to an ERA of 2.60.  In his last three starts, he struck out eleven batters in two of those outings and had a bad rocky start against Colorado sandwiched in between those two starts.  Buehler will look to start stringing together strong outings and push to be the Dodgers’ game two starter in the postseason.

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Zack Wheeler was all over the trade rumors back in July but the Mets ultimately hung on to him and he has rewarded them with a strong second half.  Wheeler has a 3.15 ERA in the second half after a disappointing first half in which he had an ERA of 4.69.  Wheeler has allowed exactly one run in each of his last three starts.

Although this isn’t the best matchup of the three games, this will be the nationally televised game on ESPN Sunday night baseball. Both Wheeler and Buehler have averaged 96.5 MPH on their fastball this season, so there will be plenty of hight heat coming at batters on Sunday night.  The Dodgers will get Max Muncy back on Friday just in time for his left-handed bat against three above-average right-handed starters.

dark. Next. NL playoff picture remains unclear for the Dodgers

This series will mark the end of the Dodgers’ travel east during the regular season.  After this series, the farthest the Dodgers will travel is to San Francisco and San Diego.  With just fourteen games remaining in the regular season, this would be the perfect time for the blue to get hot and carry momentum into the postseason.

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