The New York Mets are in danger of enduring their worst May in more than 30 years.
But they won’t be the team trying to snap an unusually long losing streak on Monday at Citi Field. That will be baseball’s perennial superpower, the Los Angeles Dodgers.
The host Mets will look to build on a dramatic win on Sunday, while the Dodgers will seek to end a five-game skid when the teams begin a three-game series.
The Mets’ Tylor Megill (0-2, 3.00 ERA) is scheduled to start against fellow right-hander Gavin Stone (4-2, 3.60).
Omar Narvaez delivered a walk-off RBI single Sunday afternoon as the Mets scored three times in the ninth to edge the San Francisco Giants 4-3 and end a five-game skid.
The Dodgers’ losing streak hit five games as they fell to the host Cincinnati Reds 4-1 in the finale of a three-game set.
The Mets, who have scored three runs or fewer nine times this month, trailed 3-1 entering the ninth before collecting four hits — including Harrison Bader’s two-run double with one out — against Tyler Rogers to improve to 7-16 (.304) since May 1.
New York hasn’t won fewer than 10 games in May since 1993, when the Mets were 9-18 (.333) on their way to finishing 59-103 — the franchise’s most recent 100-loss season.
“There’s no way around it — we’ve been struggling,” said Mets pitcher Sean Manaea, who allowed two runs in five innings and was spared the loss by the ninth-inning comeback. “To get a win like this, against a very, very good team like that and ‘Ty Rog’ (Giants reliever Tyler Rogers), that’s huge. We’ll take it any way we can.”
The Dodgers’ atypical struggles continued Sunday, when they were blanked into the ninth inning. The losing streak is the longest for Los Angeles since a six-game skid from April 8-13, 2019.
The Dodgers were outscored 29-11 over the past five games. The only player with a multi-hit effort over the past two games is outfielder Teoscar Hernandez, who was 2-for-4 Sunday with a pair of doubles.
“When you’re not hitting, it certainly seems lifeless,” Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said. “The bottom line is that it’s about results, and we’re not getting them right now. I think everyone in that clubhouse understands that we’ve just got to keep going. There’s no team that’s going to feel sorry for you.”
Megill returned from a nearly two-month stint on the injured list due to a right shoulder strain May 20, when he took the loss after allowing three runs (two earned) over five innings as the Mets fell to the Cleveland Guardians 3-1. He is 0-1 with a 5.40 ERA in two career starts against the Dodgers.
Stone lost on Tuesday after giving up four runs over six innings in the Dodgers’ 7-3 home defeat to the Arizona Diamondbacks. He didn’t factor into the decision in his lone previous appearance against the Mets on April 20, when he allowed two runs over 3 1/3 innings in New York’s 6-4 victory in Los Angeles.
–Field Level Media
