How club is approaching big test against the Dodgers
LOS ANGELES — The Amazin’s woke up in the City of Angels on Friday morning with the secondbest winning percentage (.660) in the National League, and the thirdbest percentage in the majors. The only NL team in front of them was their opponent this weekend: the mighty Dodgers.
“That’s a team that you have to go out there and you have to battle every single inning,” Starling Marte said. “They play the game hard and that’s what we strive to do. We have to match that same intensity, inning by inning, when we play them.”
So one can understand if the narrative engulfing these two teams as they play a four-game set at Chavez Ravine is one that presents a big test for the Mets, who are the underdogs in this matchup despite entering the series with a double-digit first place lead in their own division.
But the Mets’ overall approach to the Dodgers series, they say, is just like their attitude to any other matchup. Players say that much of that mentality, which has been omnipresent for the club no matter who they’ve played this season, derives chiefly from manager Buck Showalter. The skipper, somewhat predictably, said Thursday that their series against the Dodgers is no bigger test than any of the other challenging teams the Mets have faced this season.
“I don’t get into the litmus test,” Showalter said. “That’s somebody else’s terminology. It’s a competitive situation every night.”
But the 48,018 fans in attendance at Dodger Stadium for the series opener on Thursday night and the pomp and circumstance surrounding the much-anticipated matchup say otherwise. Whether the Mets want to publicly admit it or not, their first look at the Dodgers this weekend is a good indication of how a potential National League Championship Series between these two strong teams may play out. And that’s why everyone, including the Dodgers and Mets, knows that this series is a big test.
Even Steve Cohen hopped on his private plane and flew to Los Angeles to watch his Mets this weekend.
Besides the obvious excitement surrounding the series, the billionaire Mets owner has a particular affinity for the Dodger organization and how the team has built itself into a perennial playoff contender. When Cohen first bought the Mets in Nov. 2020, he was asked in his introductory press conference which sports franchise, whether its baseball or not, he’d like to model the Mets.
“I like what the Dodgers are doing,” Cohen, a lifelong Mets fan, responded with no hesitation. “They have a really strong farm system, they take advantage of opportunities in the marketplace for free agents and trades. I think they run a pretty good business operation too. So I think that’s one team that easily seems to make the mark in the type of places that I want to do the same.”
Late Thursday
Dodgers2,mets0: Tony Gonsolin pitched two-hit ball over six sharp innings and the Los Angeles Dodgers defeated the Mets 2-0 on Thursday night, snapping New York’s six-game winning streak in the opener of a four-game series between the National League’s top two teams. Gonsolin (6-0) struck out five and walked one in his first career start against the Mets. The right-hander has allowed two runs or fewer in all 10 starts and lowered his ERA to 1.59. Gonsolin didn’t give up a hit until the fourth — a single by Luis Guillorme after left fielder Chris Taylor’s snowcone catch on Starling Marte’s line drive. Initially ruled no catch, the Dodgers successfully challenged the call. Craig Kimbrel retired the side in the ninth to close out the Dodgers’ fourth shutout. He had allowed runs in his past three outings, but struck out slugger Pete Alonso swinging to earn his 11th save.