The New York Mets are facing adversity early as the organization looks to avoid losing its eighth straight game and getting swept by the Los Angeles Dodgers.
The New York Mets are struggling to score runs consistently and it’s showing amid the team’s seven-game losing streak following its second straight loss to the back-to-back World Series champion Los Angeles Dodgers.
The Mets struck first on a leadoff home run from shortstop Francisco Lindor to make it 1-0 before the Dodgers answered with an RBI groundout from first baseman Freddie Freeman in the bottom half of the first. It was quiet for both teams from that point on until the eighth inning when right fielder Kyle Tucker hit an RBI single to take a one-run lead that would hold for a Dodgers 2-1 victory, securing the series win with a chance to sweep on Wednesday.
Mets right-hander Nolan McLean threw seven innings of one-run ball on two hits and two walks with eight strikeouts while Dodgers righty Yoshinobu Yamamoto tossed 7.2 innings of one-run ball on four hits and one walk with seven punchouts.
The Mets have now lost three series in a row and have scored just one run over the last 27 innings of play. A win over the Dodgers will salvage the series, but New York’s cold offense will have to get back on track against Los Angeles’ two-way superstar Shohei Ohtani, who hasn’t allowed an earned run over 12 innings of work.
Ohtani is 1-0 with a 0.75 WHIP through his two starts and has completed six innings in each start, going six one-hit innings with three walks and six strikeouts against the Cleveland Guardians before going six innings and allowing an unearned run on four hits and one walk with two punchouts against the Toronto Blue Jays. This will be the first time Ohtani is pitching against the Mets in his career, according to MLB.com, but the Mets’ pitching staff is no stranger to Ohtani’s excellence in the batter’s box.
According to the same MLB.com piece written by Brian Murphy and Theo DeRosa, Ohtani has hit five home runs with 13 RBI across 88 plate appearances and carries a slash line of .282/.409/.577 (.986 OPS). It will be a tough task for Mets right-hander Clay Holmes, who will take the bump against Ohtani and the Dodgers.
Holmes is 2-1 with a 1.50 ERA and 1.11 WHIP across 18 innings through three starts. He allowed two runs on four hits and three walks with five strikeouts against the St. Louis Cardinals, no runs on three hits and two walks with four punchouts over seven innings against the San Francisco Giants and one run on five hits and three walks with three strikeouts through 5.1 innings his last time out against the Athletics.
He left his last start with hamstring tightness, but just as he anticipated, Holmes is ready to make his next start.
Mets third baseman Bo Bichette is the player to watch offensively for the Mets tonight – he is 2-for-5 off Ohtani during the regular season and 1-for-3 in the playoffs with a mammoth home run during Game 7 of the World Series.
First pitch is at 7:00 p.m. PDT on ESPN.