Mets 9 Dodgers 0

Before Thursday, the Dodgers may have been the worst first-place team of all-time. As they slide into an abyss, my prediction of a sweep is looking like a slam dunk.

There’s no way I’m staying up for this one — too long a week for me and I have to get up way too early. In fact I may not make it to the opening pitch.

That said, please feel free to post your thoughts below, both during and after the game.

Considering that the Dodgers have lost 8 of their last 9, were just shut out three consecutive times, and they’re without both Matt Kemp and Andre Ethier, I’m going to go on a limb and predict at least three wins for the Mets in this series, but my gut is figuring on a sweep. We’ll see what happens.

Dodger Stadium

The Mets (40-36, 3rd place in the N.L. East) begin a 4-game set with the Dodgers (43-33, 1st place in the N.L. West) in Los Angeles tonight at 10:10 PM EDT.

The Dodgers have lost 8 of their last 9 games, and are coming off a sweep at the hands of the San Francisco Giants.  This recent run of games dropped the Dodgers into a first place tie with the Giants, after L.A. had held a steady lead in the N.L. West for the first 3 months of the season.

The Mets followed their 4-game winning streak with a 4-game losing streak.  They lost 2 in a row to the last-place Cubs before steamrolling them in game 3 of the series.

Mets 17 Cubs 1

In a big way, Mets unleash their frustration over losing a series to the worst team in baseball.

The Mets have run into another losing streak, having dropped 4 in a row.  They now sit at 39-36, 4.5 games back of the Nationals.  They lost a couple of tough 1-run games to the Yankees at Citi, but then dropped 2 games (and a few routine pop ups and grounders) to the lowly Cubs.  They’ve recovered from streaks like this before this year, but every Mets fan is secretly dreading “The Big One.”  The losing streak from which they can’t come back.

To the Blogs:

• Howard Megdal believes Scott Hairston should get the majority of his playing time against lefties.
• Mack’s Mets keeps tabs on the latest Mets minor league news and notes.
• Rising Apple thinks Jenrry Mejia could be traid bait for some much-needed bullpen help.
• Daily Stache examines middle infield solutions.
• Metstradamus is as frustrated with the Mets’ sloppy play in Wrigleyville as Terry Collins.
• Real Dirty Mets wonders if the Mets will need a full-time DH next year.

Keep watching Mets Today, where the wind is always blowing out.

Cubs 5 Mets 3

Who knew the Ringling Brothers were from Flushing?

If the excuse is still related to the Mets being tired, perhaps someone should start testing for African Sleeping Sickness.

Cubs 6 Mets 1

Even the worst team in baseball wins once every three games.

Mets vs Cubs: Snakebitten Edition

I don’t want to be cliche and use the “this is a trap series” but this is a trap series. When playing well, the Mets have a bad habit of playing down to their competition. This is a young team and I expect lapses such as this, but I am hoping they go out and put the foot to them. Because folks, the Cubs are not very good. The team might be tough to watch, but here are some players worth keeping an eye out for: