Dodgers, Mets look for revitalized offenses in rematch of NLCS

For the New York Mets and Los Angeles Dodgers, Friday night’s game represents a rematch of last season’s National League Championship Series, which the Dodgers won in six games.

More important for both teams, they’ll have an opportunity to begin regaining the form that allowed them to play deep into October when the Mets host the Dodgers in the opener of a three-game series.

Right-hander Griffin Canning (5-1, 2.47 ERA) is slated to start for the Mets against Dodgers left-hander Clayton Kershaw (0-0, 11.25 ERA).

Both teams were off Thursday after earning much-needed wins Wednesday night. The Mets snapped a season-high three-game losing streak by beating the Boston Red Sox 5-1 while the Dodgers edged the Arizona Diamondbacks 3-1 in the rubber game of a three-game series.

The victory didn’t solve all the issues for the Mets, who won despite another quiet night from Juan Soto and Pete Alonso. After each dropped a spot in the lineup, they went a combined 1-for-8 with five strikeouts. Soto is batting .143 with no home runs and two RBIs in his last 10 games while Alonso is hitting .221 with two homers and nine RBIs in May.

But ninth-place hitter Brett Baty had two hits and three RBIs while Francisco Lindor homered to help the Mets snap a pair of lengthy skids.

New York scored more than three runs in a game for the first time since May 12 — a seven-game span in which they were outscored 26-10 while going 2-5. The 10 runs were the fewest for the Mets in a seven-game stretch since they scored nine runs over seven games in June 2018.

Lindor’s round-tripper also snapped a six-game home run drought for New York — its longest since July 2015.

“Guys, when they’re going through stretches like this, they want to come through so bad,” Mets manager Carlos Mendoza said on Wednesday. “At times, it takes a little longer than we would like. But it was good to see those guys today not panicking — not that we have — but just continue to play your game.”

Meanwhile, Los Angeles’ win was the second straight following a four-game losing streak for the defending World Series champion Dodgers, who held just one lead in that span against the Diamondbacks and the crosstown Los Angeles Angels.

But the Dodgers also realized how close they came to being swept by Arizona. Yoshinobu Yamamoto carried a no-hitter into the seventh inning Tuesday night, but Tanner Scott blew a save opportunity in the ninth. Fortunately, Los Angeles overcame a two-run 10th-inning deficit to earn a 4-3 win.

The Dodgers also trailed Wednesday, when Teoscar Hernandez hit a three-run homer to account for the hosts’ only runs.

The Dodgers have scored five runs or fewer in each of their last four games after scoring at least seven runs eight times in their first 13 games of the month.

“You look back 27 hours ago, we were in it,” Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said on Wednesday. “Giving up a lead in the ninth inning and looking to lose the first two of the series and you come away winning that one and then winning this one. So to find a way to win a series against that club within the division, I think there’s certainly some momentum.”

Neither Canning nor Kershaw factored into the decision in their most recent starts on Saturday. Canning gave up two runs over 5 1/3 innings as the Mets edged the New York Yankees 3-2. Kershaw, who made his season debut after undergoing offseason surgeries on his left toe and left foot, allowed five runs over four innings in the Dodgers’ 11-9 loss to the Angels.

Canning is 2-1 with a 3.86 ERA in four career starts against the Dodgers. Kershaw is 11-0 with a 2.03 ERA in 17 regular-season starts against the Mets. He was also 1-1 with a 2.63 ERA in two starts against New York in the 2015 NL Division Series, which Los Angeles lost in five games.

–Field Level Media