NEW YORK METS NOTES:
METSCELLANEOUS: The Mets defeated the A’s, 4-3, in 10-innings yesterday…The Mets earned their first sweep of the season and their first extra-inning victory…New York is a season-high four games over .500…The Mets continue their second road trip of the season an 11-day, 10-game trip (3-0) against the Athletics (3-0), Dodgers (three games) and Giants (four games).
WELCOME TO THE SHOW: Prior to tonight’s game, the Mets are expected to call up infielder Brett Baty from Triple-A Syracuse…In nine games this year at Triple-A, Baty hit .400 (14-35) with nine runs, two doubles, five home runs, 15 RBI and two steals with a .500 OBP and an .886 SLG…The left-handed hitter was selected with the 12th overall pick by the Mets in the 2019 First-Year Player Draft out of Lake Travis High School in Texas.
LET’S GO STREAKING!: The Mets have won a season-high four straight games…The Mets are batting .226/.391/.459 in that span, while posting a 3.16 ERA (13 ER/37.0 IP) with 20 walks and 33 strikeouts…The Mets have outscored their opponents 29-13 in that span.
PITCHING IN: The Mets rank fourth in the NL with a 4.02 team ERA (63 ER/141.0 IP)…New York is tied for second in the NL with five saves.
EXTRA SPECIAL: The Mets are now 12-2 in extra-inning games dating back to 2021.
POWER STATION: Pete Alonso leads the majors with eight home runs…He is one of two Mets all-time with eight homers through 16 team games…Jeff Kent (1994) is the other…He is tied for fourth in the NL with 14 RBI, ranks second in the league with a .683 SLG and sixth with a 1.055 OPS…He has seven homers in his last 10 games, the most he’s had in any 10-game stretch in his career…Alonso is hitting .342/.432/.895 over his last 10 games with 12 RBI and 10 runs.
Rank Player HR GAMES
3rd Mike Piazza 220 972
4th Howard Johnson 192 1,154
T5th Pete Alonso 154 546
T5th Dave Kingman 154 664
7th Carlos Beltrán 149 839
Rank Player RBI GAMES
12th Daniel Murphy 402 903
13th Rusty Staub 399 942
14th Todd Hundley 397 829
15th Michael Conforto 396 757
16th Pete Alonso 394 546
METS ALL-TIME LEADERS
I LOVE L.A.: Alonso is a lifetime .360/.396/.880 hitter at Dodger Stadium…All seven of his homers against the Dodgers have come on the road…Has 16 RBI and 11 extra-base hits in 12 career games played here…His .880 SLG at the park is the highest all-time (min. 50 PA).
ROAD WARRIOR: Alonso has hit 88 home runs on the road in his career…That places him tied for sixth place in franchise history with
Carlos Beltran…Beltran recorded 88 homers in 434 road games…Next up is Howard Jonson who socked 102 in 580 away games.
THE WALKMAN: The Mets lead the majors with 85 free passes this season…Brandon Nimmo is third in the majors and second in the NL with 15 walks…Jeff McNeil has recorded 11 walks, while Pete Alonso and Francisco Lindor have 10 free passes each this season.
INVADER NIM: Brandon Nimmo has safely reached base in eight straight games, owning a .513 OBP in that span…Overall, in 15 games this season, Nimmo is batting .286 with nine runs, four doubles, eight RBI, 15 walks and a .463 OBP…His .463 OBP ranks seventh in the majors and fourth in the Senior Circuit…The left-handed hitter has drawn 338 walks in his career, which places him tied for 17th in franchise history with John Milner…Dave Magadan is 16th with 347 free passe…Nimmo has posted a .388 OBP, which is the third-highest in franchise history (min. 2,000 PA)…Only John Olerud (.425) and Dave Magadan (.391) had higher OBP.
MR. MOJO RISING: Brandon Nimmo has hit .349 (15-43) with seven runs, two doubles, two home runs, four RBI, four walks with a .429 OBP and a .535 SLG in 15 career games at Dodger Stadium…In 30 career games against the Dodgers, Nimmo has slashed .310/.408/.464 with 15 runs, three doubles, two triples, two home runs, seven RBI and nine walks.
WHEN YOU WISH UPON A STARLING: Starling Marte is tied for fourth in the majors and tied for second in the NL with seven steals…He ranks third among active players with 321 career SB…Only Elvis Andrus (337) and Billy Hamilton (324) have more.
ALL YOUR BASE ARE BELONG TO US: The Mets have stolen 20 bases this season, which is third in the majors and leads the National League…Brandon Nimmo, who is tied for seventh in the NL, has stolen three bases in 15 games this year…Nimmo stole a total of three bases in 151 games last season…Only three teams have not been caught stealing this season: the Red Sox (7 SB), White Sox (13 SB) and Royals (9 SB)…New York’s 95.2 percent success rate ranks first among the 14 clubs with at least 15 stolen base attempts in 2023.
TOMMY BOY: Tommy Pham has safely hit in four of his last five games…He is now batting .281 (9-32) with three runs, a double, two home runs, six RBI, four walks, two steals with a .361 OBP and a .500 SLG…He is one steal away from 100 for his career.
DOCTOR ROBERT-SON: David Robertson has appeared in eight games and has yet to allow a run…He allowed only four hits with nine strikeouts…He is holding left-handed hitters to a .143 (2-14) batting average this season…He has converted all four save opportunities he’s had this season…Overall, he has recorded 161 saves in his career…That is the seventh-most among active players.
PICK SIX: Francisco Lindor has hit safely in six straight games and in nine of his last 10 games…In 10 games since April 5, Lindor is batting .308 (12-39) with 11 runs, five doubles, four home runs, 15 RBI, five walks, two steals with a .400 OBP and a .744 SLG.
D-FENCE: The Mets have committed only two errors in 16 games this season…The team’s .996 fielding percentage is the best in the majors.
TODAY’S STARTING PITCHER – DAVID PETERSON LHP #23
2023 STATS: 0-2, 4.91 E R A
PETERSON’S PITCH ARSENAL
Pitch Type Usage Rate vs. LHB vs. RHB Avg. Velocity
Four-Seam Fastball 31% 24% 33% 93.3 mph
Slider 25% 36% 20% 85.8 mph
Changeup 20% 4% 28% 86.0 mph
Sinker 17% 29% 12% 92.9 mph
Curveball 7% 7% 7% 79.0 mph
PETERSON NEWS & NOTES
LAST TIME OUT: Went 5.2 innings in his first start at Citi Field this season on April 11 vs. San Diego..Let up two runs and six hits, walked two and had a season-high six strike outs.
CITY OF ANGELS: Peterson has made one start against the Dodgers in his career, June 6, 2022…Peterson allowed one earned run in 3.2 innings pitched and the Mets took home the victory at Dodgers Stadium, 9-4.
ON THE ROAD AGAIN: Peterson has a 3.65 ERA (25 ER/61.2 IP) in his last 15 road outings last season and this season, including 11 starts…He is 5-10 with a 4.70 ERA (67 earned runs/128.1 innings) in his career on the road…Peterson has struck five or more batters in his last 10 starts on the road, matching Frank Viola’s franchise record by a left-handed pitcher from August 1, 1989 – June 1, 1990.
LETHAL LEFTY: Peterson has limited lefties to a .180 (18-100) average since 2022…He whiffed 32 of the 96 left-handed batters he faced last year, a 33 percent strikeout rate that ranked fourth among all left-handed pitchers to face a minimum of 90 LHB in 2022.
SLIP ‘N’ SLIDE: Peterson held batters to a .175 (24-137) average with his slider last season and 78 of his 126 strikeouts came on the pitch…His 52.0 slider-strikeout percentage was the second-highest in MLB (min. 150 PA) behind only teammate Edwin Díaz (54.7) and his 47.9 whiff percentage with the pitch was the third-highest in the majors behind only Díaz (54.7) and Seattle’s Andres Muñoz (50.8).
FOUR-HIT WONDER: The southpaw allowed four hits or fewer in 12 of his 19 starts and 21 of his 28 appearances overall last season…He has held the opposition to four hits or fewer in 39 of his 54 career games.
STRIKE ‘EM OUT, STRIKE ‘EM OUT: Peterson struck out at least five batters in 11 straight starts from June 20-September 9 last season, the second-longest streak by a left-handed starter last season…It was the sixth-longest streak by a Mets left-handed starter in franchise history…Peterson had 82 strikeouts across 58.2 innings during that span (13 G/11 GS) good for a 12.58 K/9 ratio.
HOPE SPRINGS ETERNAL: Peterson made four appearances (three starts) during spring training…He threw 12.0 scoreless innings and allowed just one hit over those four outings…Struck out 13 and walked eight…Peterson last pitched in a minor league game on March 25…In his last Grapefruit League appearance of the spring, allowed one hit, struck out four and walked four over 4.0 scoreless frames vs. the Cardinals on March 19.
LOS ANGELES DODGERS NOTES:
CAME UP SHORT: The Dodgers dropped their rubber match with the Cubs yesterday, falling to Chicago, 3-2, and losing their second series of the season. Los Angeles left nine men on base, went 2-for-7 with runners in scoring position and left the tying run on in the final frame. As the six-game homestand (1-2) rolls on, the Boys in Blue welcome in the New York Mets to Dodger Stadium for the first of three games tonight, beginning at 7:10 p.m. After the series finale’s 12:10 p.m. matinee on Wednesday, the Dodgers will fly to Chicago and begin an eight-day, seven-game road trip against the Cubs (4) and Pirates (3), beginning with a 4:40 p.m. PT start on Thursday night at Wrigley Field. The Dodgers lost their season series with the Mets last year, splitting four games at Dodger Stadium and losing two of three at Citi Field. Los Angeles lost just two series after the All-Star break last season, falling to the Mets on the road and Washington at Dodger Stadium. 2022 marked the first time the Dodgers lost a season series to the Mets since 2015.
BIG RED: The Dodgers will turn to right-hander Dustin May this evening as the big Texan takes the mound for the fourth time this season. May has never made a start against the New York Mets, appearing in just one game and tossing 1.0 scoreless inning at Dodger Stadium on Sept. 15, 2019. He has limited the opposition to a Major League best .115 opponents batting average (7-for-61) this season and also leads the Majors in opponents’ slugging percentage (.164) and opponents’ OPS (.370).
HOME RUNS TO THE MAX: Dodger third baseman Max Muncy went 0-for-4 yesterday, but is still tied with Ryan Mountcastle and Patrick Wisdom for third in the Major Leagues with six home runs, trailing just Pete Alonso (8) and Rafael Devers (7). Muncy’s 14 RBI are tied for fourth in the NL.
JUSTIN TIME: Today, the Dodger recalled left-handed reliever Justin Bruihl and optioned righthander Andre Jackson to Triple-A Oklahoma City. Bruihl, 25, is 2-0 with a 0.00 ERA (0 ER/6.0 IP) over five appearances with Triple-A Oklahoma City. He has nine strikeouts while allowing three base runners (two hits and one walk). In 45 games (two starts) for the Dodgers, he is 1-1 with a 3.40 ERA (16 ER/42.1 IP) and 24 strikeouts while limiting left-handed hitters to a .195 (17-for-87) batting average against with 14 strikeouts. The southpaw was originally signed as non-drafted free agent on July 15, 2017 after finishing his collegiate career at Cal Poly San Luis Obispo.
ROOKIE BALL: Dodger rookie outfielder James Outman and Dodger rookie infielder Miguel Vargas have combined to score 15 runs this season, which is tied with Oakland’s pair of Ryan Noda (9) and Estuery Ruiz (6) for the most by a rookie duo in Major League baseball. Outman owns a .990 OPS and has walked in 10 of his 15 games with an at-bat this season. He has also reached base safely in 13 of his 15 games with an AB this year and his 10 RBI ranks fourth on the team, trailing just Max Muncy (14), Will Smith (12) and Trayce Thompson (11). Vargas collected his first multi-hit game of the season Saturday night and scored the game-winning run in the final frame after delivering a clutch one-out double. Vargas’ 13 walks this season are tied with Paul Goldschmidt for third in the National League, trailing just Juan Soto (16) and Brandon Nimmo (15).
WALK THIS WAY: The Dodgers walked four times yesterday and rank second in baseball with 80 walks, four shy of tonight’s opponent, the New York Mets. Los Angeles has recorded five or more free passes in 11 of its 16 games this season and the 80 walks are tied with the 1977 club for the third most in L.A. Dodger history through 16 games, trailing the 1960 squad (85) and the ’99 team (83).
DIGGING THE LONGBALL: The Dodgers belted a solo homer yesterday, courtesy of Chris Taylor, who went deep in his second consecutive start. Los Angeles continues to lead the National League with 27 home runs, trailing only the Tampa Bay Rays (36) for the most in the Majors. The club has recorded five 3+ homer games this season and also leads the NL with six triples (T-1st, ML). The club ranks second on the Senior Circuit with 85 runs scored and 57 extra-base hits. Taylor has hit the Mets well over the course of his career, slashing .293/.346/.586 with six homers, seven doubles, 18 RBI and 19 runs scored in 30 games played. Four of those six home runs have come at Dodger Stadium.
TONIGHT’S STARTER vs. METS: RHP DUSTIN MAY (1-1, 1.47 ERA in 3 GS in 2023)
2023 NOTES:
• Gave up his first loss of the season last Tuesday against the Giants, tossing 5.1 innings and giving up two hits, two runs and four walks while striking out three
• Texas native took the mound in five games (four starts) during Cactus League play, posting a 5-4 record with 2.95 ERA (6 ER/18.1 IP) and 20 strikeouts against just seven walks
• Pitched in Spring Training for the first time since 2021…missed 2022 while recovering from Tommy John surgery
vs. METS:
• May will face the Mets in his first career start against the club…he tossed one inning of relief at Citi Field on September 15, 2019, giving up one hit and striking out two in his only outing against them
