New York @ Los Angeles preview
Dodger Stadium
Last Meeting ( Jul 22, 2010 ) NY Mets 0, LA Dodgers 2
When Jason Bay was signed in the offseason, it was thought he might be the missing ingredient that would help the New York Mets make it back to the postseason for the first time since 2006. Instead, Bay has been missing in action all season.
Bay’s name was missing from the starting lineup Thursday when the Mets stumbled to a 2-0 loss in the opener of a four-game series with the Los Angeles Dodgers - their seventh defeat in eight games.
Bay had a miserable 0-for-6 game with four strikeouts in the Mets’ 14-inning loss to the Arizona Diamondbacks on Wednesday night. The lowly Diamondbacks swept the three-game series, furthering the post-All-Star break slump that is threatening to remove New York from the National League East race.
Looking for a reason why the Mets are close to becoming a team playing out the string? Look toward the left fielder who received the four-year, $66 million contract.
Bay hasn’t performed anything like the player who had four 30-homer seasons over the past five years.
With the season nearly 60 percent over, Bay has a measly six homers. He has two two-homer games so it means he has hit a homer in just four different contests through New York’s 96 games.
His .403 slugging percentage is more than 100 points lower than his career mark. For the season, Bay is batting just .257 with 44 RBIs.
Bay had a career-best 119 RBIs last season with the Boston Red Sox when he hammered a career-high 36 homers.
But this season has been a struggle for Bay, who has never found his groove. July has been even more dreadful than any of the first three months – Bay is hitting just .169 with no homers in the month while striking out 20 times in 59 at-bats.
So after going 0-for-12 with eight strikeouts in the series against Arizona, Bay found himself on the bench in the series opener against Los Angeles.
If Bay is back in the lineup Friday, it will be against a pitcher he has never gotten a hit off.
Bay is 0-for-7 lifetime against Dodgers starter Vicente Padilla, who has been pitching superbly of late.
Padilla hasn’t given up a run in 14 innings over his last two starts and has a 1.30 earned-run average over his last five outings.
Padilla has won three straight decisions to improve his record to 4-2 with a 3.65 ERA. He has a 10-3 career mark against the Mets.
New York starter Johan Santana (7-5, 2.87 ERA) also has pitched great of late. Santana has given up two runs in his last 31 innings.
Santana is 3-0 with a 0.44 ERA in three career starts against the Dodgers.
Matt Kemp was the hitting star for Los Angeles in the series opener. Kemp drove in both runs with a first-inning double and a seventh-inning homer. The homer was Kemp’s first since July 6.