Here are five things to watch when the Mets and Los Angeles Dodgers play a three-game series at Citi Field starting on Tuesday...
The Mets' offense needs to wake up
Heading into this past weekend's four-game series against the Colorado Rockies -- who have allowed the most runs in baseball -- the Mets' offense seemed primed for a breakout. It didn't happen.
Instead, the Mets mustered just 13 runs in the four games, with seven of those runs coming on Friday. Dating back to last week's two-game series against the Yankees in the Bronx, the Mets have scored 17 runs in their last six games, an average of just 2.83 per game.
As the Mets' offense has sagged, Francisco Lindor has been in a slump (he hasn't had a hit in his last five games), and Pete Alonso hasn't hit for much power. He has just one extra-base hit (a home run on Friday) in his last nine games.
Jacob deGrom on Wednesday night
DeGrom has been otherworldly since returning on Aug. 2, with a 2.15 ERA (1.08 FIP) and 0.54 WHIP in 29.1 innings over five starts.
In those five starts, deGrom has struck out 46 and walked just two -- a K/9 rate of 14.1.
DeGrom was nearly perfect in his 5.2 innings against the Atlanta Braves in his first Citi Field start this season, and mostly dominant against them on Aug. 18 (save for one inning), but his biggest test yet will come on Wednesday night against a Dodgers team that is loaded offensively and more selective than Atlanta.
The Dodgers' elite starting pitching
Walker Buehler is out for the season, and the Mets will miss both Julio Urias and Tony Gonsolin in this series, but Los Angeles' starting pitching is so deep and talented that the Mets are still going to have their work cut out for them.
Andrew Heaney (1.94 ERA, 1.01 WHIP) starts on Tuesday, Tyler Anderson (2.69 ERA, 1.02 WHIP) gets the ball on Wednesday, and now the Dodgers have confirmed that Clayton Kershaw -- who has been out since Aug. 4 due to a back injury -- will return on Thursday and get that start.
Edwin Diaz could be set up to pitch all three games
Diaz pitched on Thursday and Friday against the Rockies before getting both Saturday and Sunday off, which means he'll enter the Dodgers series with plenty of rest and having pitched just three times since Aug. 17.
The above means that Diaz could possibly be relied on to pitch all three games against the Dodgers if needed.
It's rare for the Mets to ask Diaz to go three days in a row, but he's done it once before this season, from July 9 through 11 against the Miami Marlins and Braves.
Freddie Freeman and the Dodgers' relentless offense
Freeman has been on fire lately, with multi-hit games in six of his last eight, and 15 hits in his last 36 at-bats.
Along with Freeman, the Dodgers' high-octane offense (they've scored an MLB-best 683 runs this season and have an absurd +285 run differential) is led by Trea Turner, Mookie Betts, and Will Smith.
Even Joey Gallo, who was jettisoned to LA by the Yankees at the trade deadline, has contributed, with a .220/.347/.537 triple slash and three home runs in 16 games.