LOS ANGELES DODGERS NOTES:
TONIGHT’S STARTER at METS: LHP JULIO URĺAS (6-5, 4.76 ERA in 12 GS)
2023 NOTES:
- In his last start on July 6 against Pittsburgh, he spun six innings, giving up three hits, two runs and one walk while striking out eight in the win…was his first game at home since going on the IL May 20 with a left hamstring strain
- Over 11 starts, the southpaw owns a 6-5 record with a 4.76 ERA (34 ER/64.1 IP) with 63 strikeouts and 14 walks…has given up 14 homers and has produced a 1.18 WHIP
- Pitched a season-high seven innings, striking out a season-best 10 batters on May 2 against the Phillies
- He is 5-1 with a 2.15 ERA (9 ER/37.2 IP) and 40 strikeouts in six starts at home this season
- In his start against the Rockies on April 4, he hurled six innings of shut-out baseball, tabbing his 600TH career strikeout against Kris Bryant
- Tossed six innings on Opening Day against the Diamondbacks, giving up four hits and two earned runs while sitting down six…was his first Opening Day nod of his career
VS. METS:
- He will face New York for sixth time in his career (fourth start)…in his career against the Mets, he is 0-0 with a 5.02 ERA (8 ER/14.1 IP) in five games (three starts)
- Last faced the club on June 5, 2022 at Citi Field, giving up three hits, six runs, one run and three walks while striking out four
NEW YORK METS NOTES:
CH-CH-CHANGES: After review, Major League Baseball has announced the following change…In the April 27 game vs. Washington, the winning pitcher is being changed from Brooks Raley to David Robertson…As a result there was no save in that game…Raley’s updated record is 0-1, while Robertson’s is 3-2 with 12 saves.
JUNIOR METS: The New York Mets hosted a Junior Mets clinic at Citi Field for the local youth baseball leagues who were recipients of the first Amazin’ Mets Foundation League Sponsorship RFP Program…The youth players practiced their hitting, fielding, and sliding skills with Mets staff and coaches of their respective leagues…The athletes met Mr. & Mrs. Met and received tickets to a future game at Citi Field.
HERE COME THE IRISH: Tonight, Notre Dame Head Football Coach Marcus Freeman and several members of the Notre Dame Football Team will be on hand to throw out the ceremonial first pitch tonight. METSCELLANEOUS: The Mets return to action following the All-Star Break… Prior to the break…New York begins the second-half with a seven-day, six-game homestand against the Los Angeles Dodgers (three games) and the Chicago White Sox (three games).
VIVE LA METS!: New York has posted a 6-2 record in July after going 7-19 in June…The team’s six wins in July are tied for the most in the National League…The Mets have posted a 2.66 ERA (21 ER/71.0 IP) with 27 walks and 74 strikeouts this month…Their 2.66 ERA is the fourth-best mark in the majors and second-best in the National League.
JULY, JULY, JULY: New York has slashed .254/.361/.473 this month, while hitting 14 home runs…The team’s 14 blasts are the third-most in the majors… New York has outscored their opponents, 41-25 this month…They rank among MLB leaders for July in OPS (.835, third), OBP (fifth), SLG (sixth), and walks (33, sixth).
SMILE LIKE YOU MEAN IT: Over his last 20 games, Francisco Lindor is batting .338 (25-74) with 18 runs, three doubles, two triples, seven home runs, 16 RBI, 11 walks and seven steals with a 1.137 OPS…Lindor ranks among NL leaders in fWAR (3.1, seventh), RBI (60, eighth), extra-base hits (41, tied for eighth), home runs (19, tied for 10th) and doubles (20, tied for 12th)…From July 6 – 7, Lindor became the only player in the Modern Era two eight or more hits, multiple home runs, multiple triples and mutliple stolen bases over a twogame span…Courtesy of Stats Perform.
HITTING STRIDE: Over his last five starts dating back to June 14, Justin Verlander has pitched to a 2.03 ERA (7 ER/31.0 IP), the eighth-best mark in the majors during that span (Min. 27.0 IP)…Verlander sported a 4.85 ERA (21 ER/39.0 IP) in his first seven starts of the season…After allowing six runs over 5.0 innings in his Mets Citi Field debut on May 16, Verlander has pitched to a 0.84 ERA (3 ER/32.0 IP) over his last five home starts.
JUST IN TIME: Max Scherzer and Justin Verlander swapped places on the all-time strikeouts leaderboard all season long in 2022…Now teammates in 2023, the pair are neck and neck, with just 39 punchouts separating the two…With 116 more strikeouts, Verlander can enter the top-10…See below for a chart of the No. 10-19 strikeout pitchers of all-time:
Rank Player Strikeouts
- Greg Maddux 3,371
- Phil Niekro 3,342
- Max Scherzer 3,294
- Justin Verlander 3,255
- Fergie Jenkins 3192
Rank Player Strikeouts - Pedro Martinez 3,154
- Bob Gibson 3,117
- Curt Schilling 3,116
- CC Sabathia 3,093
- John Smoltz 3,084
MOST STRIKEOUTS, ALL-TIME (NO. 10-19)
IF YOU START ME UP: From July 4-7, New York’s starting pitcher completed 6.0 innings or more in four straight games for the second time this season (also, May 30-June 2)…The Mets are 27-4 when the starting pitcher throws at least 6.0 innings…New York has gone 11-1 when its starter pitches 7.0+ innings and are a perfect 4-0 when the starter completes 8.0 innings.
SEEING DODGER BLUE: In 33 games against the Dodgers, Brandon Nimmo owns a .347/.429/.520 slashline…During the Mets three-game series against the Dodgers in April, Nimmo batted .571 (8-14) and went 5-5 with a home run and two RBI in the series finale on April 19…In 24 career games against the Dodgers, Pete Alonso has seven home runs and a .553 SLG
GETAWAY CAR: New York has been successful in all 10 of their stolen base attempts in July, bringing their season tally to 71 steals in 78 attempts…Their 71 steals are tied for ninth in the majors and tied for fifth in the NL…The team’s 91.0 percent success rate is the best in the majors…The Mets had a franchise-record run of 35 consecutive stolen bases without being caught from May 14-June 29…Overall, New York has been successful in 45 of their last 46 stolen base attempts…Starling Marte has swiped 23 bags this year, sixth in the majors and third in the National League…His 337 career stolen bases rank second among active players…Elvis Andrus is the active leader with 341 steals.
JUST THE TWO OF US: Pete Alonso and Francisco Lindor are one of three pairs of teammates to have 60 or more RBI this season, joining Atlanta’s Matt Olson and Ozzie Ablies and Los Angeles-NL’s Mookie Betts and J.D. Martinez…The duo also recorded 60+ RBI before the All-Star Break last season…Prior to 2022, only three other times have the Mets had pairs of teammates drive in 60 or more runs before the All-Star Break…David Wright and Carlos Beltrán both drove in 60+ RBI before the All-Star Break in 2006 and 2008…Bernard Gilkey and Todd Hundley both drove in 60+ RBI before the All-Star Break in 1996.
ATTABOY ALVAREZ: Francisco Alvarez has 17 homers this season, tied with Sean Murphy for the most by a catcher in the majors and the third-most among rookies…Alvarez has eclipsed Travis d’Arnaud’s previous franchise record for home runs by a rookie catcher…Alvarez’s 17 home runs are the second-most in a season by a catcher in his age-behind Johnny Bench (26, age 21, 1969)…Courtesy of Sarah Langs…Alvarez has five long balls in his last eight appearances and has scored at least one run seven out of eight games during the month of July…On July 7, Alvarez had his first career four-hit game…He is the youngest Met to collect four or more hits in a game since José Reyes recorded four hits on July 25, 2004 vs. Atlanta at 21 years and 44 days.
DR. ROBERTSON: On July 4-5, David Robertson recorded a save on backto-back days for the third time this season (also, April 15-16 and May 30-31)… He recorded his 12th save of the year Wednesday night…The veteran righthander has posted a 3-2 record with 12 saves and a 2.06 ERA (9 ER/39.1 IP) in 36 appearances this season…He has walked 11, while striking out 46…He ranks eighth in ERA among NL relievers…He is tied for 19th in the NL with 46 punchouts as a reliever…He is holding left-handed hitters to a .187 (14-75) average this year.
BROOKS WAS HERE: Since returning from the IL on May 14, Brooks Raley has posted a 0.90 ERA (2 ER/20.0 IP) over 24 games…That is the fifth-lowest mark during that span (Min. 15 relief appearances)…Raley has 17 holds, the third-most in the NL and tied for the fifth-most in the majors.
STARTING PITCHER – JUSTIN VERLANDER RHP #35
2023 STATS: 3-4, 3.60 E R A
LAST TIME OUT: Allowed three runs, two earned over 6.0 innings of work on July 7 against the Padres at Petco Park…Surrendered five hits, issued three walks and struck out two.
MILESTONES AND MORE: Tonight, Verlander will make his 495th career start…With five more starts after tonight, Verlander will join CC Sabathia (560), Bartolo Colon (552), Zack Greinke (532) and Andy Pettitte (521) as the only pitchers to make 500 starts in the Wild Card Era…Verlander ranks 25th in major league history with 333 quality starts and is four quality starts shy of tying Walter Johnson, Jim Palmer and Rick Reuschel for 22nd all-time… Verlander is the active leader in career wins with 247 and is three wins shy of becoming the 49th player in major league history to reach the 250-career win mark.
HITTING STRIDE: Over his last five starts dating back to June 14, Verlander has pitched to a 2.03 ERA (7 ER/31.0 IP), the eighth-best mark in the majors during that span (Min. 27.0 IP)…Verlander sported a 4.85 ERA (21 ER/39.0 IP) in his first seven starts of the season… After allowing six runs over 5.0 innings in his Mets Citi Field debut on May 16, Verlander has pitched to a 0.84 ERA (3 ER/32.0 IP) over his last five home starts.
GO WEST YOUNG MAN: In 21 career starts against NL West opponents, Verlander is 14-2 with a 2.52 ERA (39 ER/139.1 IP), a 1.00 WHIP, a 10.33 SO/9 rate and a .581 opponent’s OPS…17 of those starts have been quality starts and Verlander has recorded eight or more strikeouts in 10 of those starts.
