The Mets’ recent taste of American League baseball left an awful flavor in their collective mouths. It appears the lineup can’t keep up with the offensive-minded teams in the junior circuit — at least, not without sluggers such as Shawn Green and Moises Alou available. No matter, as it’s hard to describe what they do in the AL as “baseball” anyway (whoever heard of using a “designated hitter”? why not just make it like football and field one squad for offense, and another for defense?).

Luckily, the Mets return to real baseball, facing the Dodgers in Los Angeles. If you missed it, Aaron Sapiro gave us an Inside Look on the Dodgers, and now I’ll give you a quick preview of the series. As always, head over to MetsGeek for a detailed analysis on the pitching matchups.

Game 1: Orlando Hernandez (3-1, 1.94 ERA) vs. Randy Wolf (7-4, 4.03)

El Duque must stop the madness and return the starting rotation’s ERA to a respectable level. Randy Wolf has been remarkably effective for Los Angeles this year, sporting a 7-4 record and 4.03 ERA. I’m not buying it, and expect the suddenly inspired Mets offense to pound him in the opening game — assuming his curveball does not suddenly become Koufax-like.

Game 2: John Maine (6-3, 2.78) vs. Hong-Chih Kuo (0-1, 4.85)

Our Maine man has provided stellar performances in his last three starts, but has only one win to show for it. If he can continue with what he’s done recently, and the Mets consider providing offensive support, he may finally earn a victory.

Kuo pitched the game of his life last September against the Mets on — fittingly — Taiwan Night at Shea (ironically, John Maine was on the mound that game as well). This time around he will not have the benefit of his countrymen in the stands, nor will the Wandy Rodriguez Effect be in place.

Game 3: Jorge Sosa (6-1, 2.64) vs. Brad Penny (7-1, 2.26)

A month ago, who would have believed that Sosa and Penny would have comparable numbers?

Penny has been lights-out so far this year, though he gave up four runs in six innings against the
Pirates in his last start — so maybe this rollercoaster is about to roll down? Assuming not, Penny will be tough, as his evil sinker and overpowering fastball can make mincemeat out of a highly-tuned Mets lineup, much less one that is struggling.

Every week I think Sosa is going to fall back to Earth, and each time he’s proved me wrong. He’ll likely need to remain on Planet Jorge to keep the Mets in this game … let’s hope he does.

Mets Bats

The bats are finally back, as the Mets scored 15 runs in their last two games. Shawn Green should also be back in the lineup, adding extra boost. David Wright is hitting .333 over the last week and carries a streak of one homerun in each of his last four games. Strangely enough, the Mets with the best averages over their respective last seven games are Ruben Gotay (.429), Tommy Glavine (.357), and Oliver Perez(.357). Too bad we won’t see any of those bats in the lineup in this series.

Dodgers Bats

The reason the Dodgers are no longer in first place is because the 1974 Mets had more punch than this lineup of judys. If not for the woeful Washington Nationals, the Dodgers would be last in all of baseball in homeruns — as a team, they’ve knocked 39 over the fence, which is one less than the combined effort of Alex Rodriguez and J.J. Hardy. No one in the lineup strikes fear in a pitcher’s heart, though they do have a lot of pesky singles hitters. They’ve promoted James Loney to provide some punch, but the big righthanded batter had hit only one dinger while playing for Las Vegas in the homer-happy PCL (and, it was on the first pitch of the season; he hasn’t hit one since). Nomar Garciaparra is healthy but hitting only .273, though Jeff Kent and Luis Gonzalez are providing some power. Matt Kemp is red-hot, hitting .471 over his last seven games, and may be the Dodgers’ most fearsome hitter. And while they have speedsters Juan Pierre and Rafael Furcal, don’t be surprised to see catcher Russell Martin take off — he has 10 DWright-like stolen bases this year.

Bottom Line

The pitching matchups would appear to favor the Mets in this series, which is good news for our battered gladiators. However, matchups have not been indicative of eventual outcomes recently, so who knows? The Dodgers — like the Mets — are currently in a downward spiral, and both teams are desperate for a spark of some kind to reverse their fortune. I’m going to go out on a limb and say that whoever wins the opener, gains much-needed momentum and wins the series. Let’s go El Duque!

Last year, Alyssa Milano showed up in the New York Mets dugout, but apparently it wasn’t to ask out Kaz Matsui. Her braless visit to Shea may have inspired the Mets — and frightened Kaz to run to Colorado — but her heart, in fact, is with the Los Angeles Dodgers.

If you haven’t seen it yet, Alyssa writes a Los Angeles Dodgers blog called “touch ’em all” which is fairly entertaining, if you don’t mind reading around all the self-promotion going on (*touch* is Milano’s line of MLB apparel for women).

With the Mets playing the Dodgers, now is as good a time as any to read her baseball prose … though “Charmed” fans will be disappointed by the lack of photos.

The New York Mets move westward to face the Los Angeles Dodgers of Los Angeles (not Anaheim, nor San Jose, nor any other city disassoicated from the team). The Dodgers had been riding atop the ultra-competitive NL West, but recently dropped down to second place, one and a half games behind the Arizona Diamondbacks and San Diego Padres, who currently share first place (did you notice the “Standings” in the sidebar to the right? Scroll down, you’ll see it).

Since most of us Mets fans are too self-centered to know what’s going on outside of the Tri-State area (and our fantasy teams), we’ve called on Aaron Sapiro of “Rockin’ the Ravine“, a popular Dodgers blog. Instead of a paltry ten questions, we pushed the envelope Spinal Tap style and shot him eleven.

1. There’s really a dogfight going on in the NL West, with the D’Backs catching fire and the Padres winning behind spectacular pitching. What’s going on, in a nutshell, with the Dodgers recently and what do they need to do to move ahead of SD and AZ?

Oh Brother, right of that bat huh? Well, it’s a good division; it’s a real good division. When you take a look a couple years back and remember all the talk that the NL West could have been the weakest in the history of baseball, it’s incredible to see how far we’ve come. The division is loaded, and it’s probably the second toughest division in baseball right now behind the AL Central. Not just the Padres, DBacks and Dodgers, but the Rockies are stacked with real solid young talent, and the Giants are one bouncing ball away from making a legitimate run. This is a division that is built around pitching, and the Dodgers certainly are not slacking in that department. We got to start hitting, plain and simple. There’s no power bat in the lineup, that’s no secret, timely hits, some balls have to start falling again.

2. How did Matt Kemp not make the 25-man roster out of spring training, and now that he’s back, will he have the opportunity to make an impact?

Matt Kemp did actually make the 25-man roster out of Spring Training; it was James Loney who was left off the roster creating all the stir. Kemp not only made the team, but he was thriving, started the season 6 for 14, and looked like he had Andre Ethier beat for the starting rightfield gig. Of course, as fate would have it, he went on the DL after slamming into the Right Field fence, and now has finally made his way back. Yes, he will play, he’s a solid guy to have on the team, the closest to a full-blown 5-tool guy we have. He can run, he can hit, and he plays the field extremely well. Plus Grady loves him.

3. Ah, it was Loney, not Kemp, my bad (duh) … you have so many great young bats we can’t keep them straight on this side of the country. While we’re on the subject of powerful young bats, and Loney in particular, I see James Loney has finally returned. Where will he fit into the lineup?

Interesting predicament we have here with James Loney. He’s supposed to be our sure hitter, our “power bat” that we’ve been waiting for. Only problem is he only had 1 Home Run in Triple A. He’ll get the chance to see the field, with Nomar slated in at first, Loney’s been working in both corner outfield spots in Vegas, and lord knows Nomar needs a rest every once in while before he just keels over and dies trying to leg out a double one day.

4. Nomar Garciaparra’s been pretty healthy all year — at least as far as we can tell here on the East Coast. Any nagging injuries affecting his play?

Nomar’s only nagging injury is Nomar. He’s pretty healthy, especially considering that he played nearly all of last year injured, but his body’s pretty worn down. Truthfully, if he was still in great shape, he’d playing third base for us right now with all the troubles we’ve had over there, and we could hand Loney the 1B spot. Management doesn’t feel like his body is up to it. He’s fine though; don’t read too far in to that.

5. Chad Billingsley looks to have a promising young arm. Any chance he’s going to crack the rotation this year, or is he too valuable in the bullpen right now?

Chad Billingsley right now is probably the most talented pitcher we have on the staff. In all my years of watching baseball, I really think Chad Billingsley has the best stuff I have ever seen from a pitcher in a Dodger uniform, and he’s only 22 years old. I would LOVE to see him in the rotation at some point this year, and I really think somehow there will be a way to see it happen, but you never know with Grady. He’s been great out of the pen for us this year, but he’s our future number one starter for sure, he’s got a real bright future.

6. Hong-Chih Kuo pitched a magnificent game against the Mets last year. Is he the real deal, or was he just hyped up for “Taiwan Night at Shea” ?

I guess we’ll have to wait and see for Game Two of this series. He’s only started two games so far this season after beginning the season on the DL. Gotta remember, Kuo has been through not one, but two Tommy John surgeries, and he’s still throwing 94. Management likes him now because he’s left-handed, but we have a farm system oozing with pitching prospects. We’ll see…

7. Back in March, would you have believed that Randy Wolf would have more of an impact on the season than Jason Schmidt?

Ha. Well, no, of course not. But, I also wouldn’t have thought Jason Schmidt would have spent seven weeks on the DL and Randy Wolfe would be 5th in the NL in strikeouts. Schmidt’s locked up here for at least two more years after this, and even though Wolfe is in his first, it’s technically a contract year with the club option for next year. Randy Wolfe has been great, so have Brad Penny and Derek Lowe, who by the way leads all of MLB in complete games with three and is 0-3 in those games. Welcome to our season.

8. Juan Pierre: 5 years, $44M. Your thoughts.

Hang Me.

9. Outside of statistical performance, has Luis Gonzalez had an impact on the team? Does he appear to be one of the veteran leaders that others look to, or is he just another guy on the team? Who IS the “main guy” / leader of the team? Nomar? Russell Martin?

You can check out my article here regarding the Dodgers’ leadershipfrom about two weeks back (shameless self promotion). Russell Martin, yea, is absolutely the captain of this baseball team. I know he’s only in his second Big League season, but the way he handles himself and the way he approaches the game is unparalleled. Nomar’s always been a player to lead by example, and I think Luis Gonzalez has been a steady influence, as has Takashi Saito, Jeff Kent, and Olmedo Saenz, but this is Russell’s team.

10. Ninth inning, tie game, two outs, man on third. What Dodger do you want to see at the plate?

Russ.

11. Same situation, but the Mets are hitting. What Dodger do you want on the mound and which Met would you least like to see up at the plate?

Well, if my starter is still in, I’m taking DLowe, he makes me feel comfortable. Reliever, obviously Saito, who just blew his first save in his last 27 chances. As for the Mets, I want absolutely nothing to do with Jose Reyes, ever.

Thanks again to Aaron for his great insights. Be sure to check out Rockin’ the Ravine for thoughtful analysis and information on the Los Angeles Dodgers.