The Los Angeles Dodgers are coming off a loss but still have a chance to win their series against the National League East-leading New York Mets on Sunday.
Although the results didn’t go their way on Saturday, Dodgers manager Dave Roberts likes where his club is at entering the series finale with Julio Urías on the mound.
“We have Julio going tomorrow, we’ve just got to win a series,” Roberts said after their 9-4 loss. “It’s a very good ballclub over there. They outplayed us tonight, but we have a chance to win three out of four.”
Urías is coming off one of his worst outings of the season where he allowed four runs over six innings against the Pittsburgh Pirates. As is the case with Walker Buehler, Urías has not been the dominant pitcher the Dodgers expected him to be this season.
The southpaw still owns a 2.89 ERA in 53 innings across 10 starts, but his strikeout rate is down more than 6% from last season and a 4.51 FIP suggests he has been lucky to post an ERA that low. He has also allowed a lot of quality contact this season, ranking in the 25th percentile of barrel rate.
The Mets counter with swingman Trevor Williams, who makes his fifth start of the season and 10th appearance. Although he’s not one of the Mets’ top-five starters, he has still been effective with a 3.58 ERA and 3.65 FIP in 27.2 innings, which speaks to the quality of their pitching staff.
“I mean, their pitchers are good,” Mookie Betts said. “They’re one of the best teams in baseball. They’ve got one of the best records and their pitchers are just doing what they’ve been doing all year.”
Williams limits walks exceptionally well, with less than two per nine, but he also strikes out less than one batter per nine innings. He has also avoided giving up quality contact, ranking in the 90th percentile of barrel rate and the 87th percentile of expected wOBA.
Both pitchers are in for a challenge though as they face the two top scoring offenses in baseball.
The Dodgers have scored an MLB-leading 282 runs while batting .253/.336/.431 with a .337 wOBA and 118 wRC+. The Mets are right behind them with 272 runs while slashing .263/.335/.402 with a .325 and 114 wRC+.
Eddy Alvarez makes his first start of the season. Roberts said the 32-year-old has family who flew into L.A from Miami to attend the game.
Alvarez was called up from Triple-A Oklahoma City on Friday after Edwin Ríos was placed on the 10-day injured list. Alvarez was initially expected to be in the lineup as the designated hitter, but that instead is Justin Turner due to experiencing minor hamstring tightness on Saturday.
Dodgers lineup
RF: Mookie Betts
1B: Freddie Freeman
SS: Trea Turner
C: Will Smith
DH: Justin Turner
CF: Cody Bellinger
LF: Chris Taylor
3B: Eddy Alvarez
2B: Gavin Lux
Mets lineup
CF: Brandon Nimmo
RF: Starling Marte
SS: Francisco Lindor
1B: Pete Alonso
DH: J.D. Davis
LF: Mark Canha
3B: Eduardo Escobar
2B: Luis Guillermo
C: Tomás Nido
Make sure to follow Dodger Blue on Instagram! It’s the best way to see exclusive coverage from games and events, get your questions answered, and more!
