Following an impressive showing over the Arizona Diamondbacks, the Los Angeles Dodgers enter Labor Day with sole possession of first place in the National League West for the first time since Aug. 8.
The club continues the back end of their six-game homestand and plays host to the New York Mets. The two teams last faced off in June, when the Dodgers came away with a three-game sweep at Citi Field.
Alex Wood makes his 26th start of the season and looks to build off an excellent month of August. In four starts, he went 1-1 with an impressive 2.05 ERA and 1.18 WHIP over 22 innings pitched.
The left-hander found success in his most recent outing against the Texas Rangers on Aug. 29, to which he tossed seven scoreless frames with five strikeouts. He enters at 8-6 this season, having posted a 3.42 ERA, 3.50 FIP and 1.17 WHIP in 139.1 innings pitched.
Having spent the first two and a half seasons of his career with the Atlanta Braves, Wood is plenty familiar with the Mets. In nine starts against them, he’s 1-3 with a 3.83 ERA, 1.36 WHIP, 56 strikeouts and 19 walks across 51.2 innings pitched.
The Mets counter with Jacob deGrom, who’s at the forefront in National League Cy Young Award conversations. Despite an 8-8 record, he owns a Major League-best 1.68 ERA, 2.02 FIP and 0.98 WHIP with 224 strikeouts against 41 walks in 182 innings pitched this season (27 starts).
deGrom was brilliant in his last outing against the Chicago Cubs on Aug. 28, yielding only one run over eight innings pitched with 10 strikeouts. It marked his 11th such start this year in which he logged at least seven innings pitched while allowing one run or less.
In his career against the Dodgers, deGrom is 0-4 with a 3.43 ERA and 1.08 over 44.2 innings pitched. The right-hander previously faced Los Angeles in June, when he was tabbed with a loss after yielding five hits and three runs in six frames.
Max Muncy comes in swinging a hot bat after hitting another home run on Sunday. In his last 13 games, he is hitting .276/.417/.793 with five home runs and eight RBI. He took deGrom deep when he faced him earlier this season in New York.
Dodgers lineup:
LF: Joc Pederson
3B: Justin Turner
SS: Manny Machado
2B: Max Muncy
CF: Alex Verdugo
1B: Cody Bellinger
C: Yasmani Grandal
RF: Yasiel Puig
P: Alex Wood
