With his early-season power outage all but a memory, Max Muncy will be out to continue his hot stretch as the Los Angeles Dodgers host the New York Mets on Wednesday night in the third contest of a four-game series.
Muncy hit two home runs Tuesday, including the game-tying homer in the ninth inning, as the Dodgers rallied for a 6-5 victory in 10 innings against the Mets.
New York posted a 4-3 win in 10 innings on Monday.
Muncy has a pair of multi-homer games since Saturday, with five total home runs over the past four games. Before last weekend started, he had four home runs in 52 games.
“I think how (the home runs) have come in bunches, maybe a little surprised, but the swing he was working on, I liked what I was seeing, and I said there was going to be some slug coming,” manager Dave Roberts said of Muncy, who has 199 home runs since joining the Dodgers in 2018.
“Now you look at the stat line and it’s all lining up the way it should.”
Los Angeles right-hander Tony Gonsolin (3-1, 5.23 ERA) will take the mound Wednesday while dealing with command issues in six starts since returning from Tommy John surgery. He has 11 walks over his last three starts (15 innings).
Gonsolin lost a May 24 start against the Mets 5-2 when he gave up four runs in five innings, then earned an 8-5 win against the New York Yankees on Friday when he gave up five runs in six frames.
Gonsolin is 1-1 with a 2.81 ERA in three lifetime starts against the Mets.
While the Dodgers welcomed back Mookie Betts on Tuesday after he missed four games with a left toe injury, the Mets placed infielder Mark Vientos on the injured list with a right hamstring strain. New York recalled Ronny Mauricio from Syracuse after he missed last season with a knee injury and was batting .515 in nine games with the Triple-A club.
Mets right-hander Griffin Canning will return to Southern California amid a breakout season. Canning (5-2, 3.23) grew up in Orange County, close to the Los Angeles Angels’ home ballpark in Anaheim, and pitched for the team from 2019-24, but he has never put together a season like this.
After leading the American League last season with 99 earned runs, Canning has allowed 19 through the first third of this season. But he is on a bumpy ride of late, taking his first loss in 10 starts when he gave up five runs (three earned) with four walks in three innings last Wednesday in a 9-4 loss to the Chicago White Sox.
Canning faced the Dodgers on May 23 and was limited to 2 2/3 innings because of rain. But he already had allowed three runs with another four walks. The Mets lost 7-5 in 13 innings.
“Just not being competitive in the zone, trying to make too good of pitches instead of just attacking guys,” Canning said about his control issues, especially with his changeup and slider against the White Sox. “… I’ve got to find a way to get guys out. I have other weapons. Falling behind guys isn’t a recipe for success.”
Canning is 2-1 with a 4.56 ERA in five lifetime starts against the Dodgers.
Juan Soto hit a home run for the Mets on Tuesday, his third in four games and 11th for the season. He has extra-base hits in each of his last five games after his slugging percentage dipped under .400 last week.
–Field Level Media
