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Mets-Dodgers Preview

Jul 22, 2010 - 7:54 AM By NICOLINO DIBENEDETTO STATS Writer

New York (49-46) at Los Angeles (50-45), 10:10 p.m. EDT

Both the New York Mets and the Los Angeles Dodgers have won once in seven games since the All-Star break.

The Dodgers are still feeling positive, while the Mets are continually trying to jump-start their anemic offense during their longest road trip of the season.

The two struggling clubs open a four-game set Thursday night at Dodger Stadium.

The Mets (49-46) and Dodgers (50-45) have both struggled at the plate while going 1-6 since the All-Star break. New York is batting .192 and has totaled 15 runs in the first seven contests of a grueling 11-game trip. Los Angeles has been slightly better since the break, batting .247 and scoring 18 times.

Despite having fallen six games behind NL West-leading San Diego, the Dodgers are feeling positive after ending a six-game losing streak with a 2-0 win over San Francisco on Wednesday behind Chad Billingsley's five-hitter.

"That's what we needed," batting coach Don Mattingly told the team's official website after serving as interim manager while Joe Torre served a one-game suspension. "When you get pitching like that, it's pretty easy."

The Mets, 6 1/2 games behind first-place Atlanta in the East, may be entering this series with a growing sense of frustration after losing 4-3 in 14 innings Wednesday to complete a three-game sweep at last-place Arizona.

"We need to regroup going into L.A. and hopefully get some wins," said third baseman David Wright, who is 5 for 27 with one homer and two RBIs in his last seven games. "Really, this has been kind of the story of the year, not being able to win on the road and really playing poorly on the road. We're going to have to turn that around and go pick up a few games in L.A. and hopefully continue to stay hot at home."

The Mets, who have fallen to 19-30 on the road thanks to the current slump, were swept in three games during their last visit to Dodgers Stadium from May 18-20, 2009. They did sweep the Dodgers in three games at home April 27-28.

After using six relievers Wednesday, New York would surely like Hisanori Takahashi (7-4, 4.69) to eat some innings - something he failed to do in his last start.

Takahashi was chased with two outs in the third after getting tagged for six runs and seven hits, including two homers, in an 8-4 loss at San Francisco on Saturday.

The left-hander is 1-2 with a 10.90 ERA in his last four starts, serving up seven homers in that span.

Takahashi won his only previous appearance against the Dodgers on April 27, allowing one run with five strikeouts in 3 1-3 innings of relief in a 10-5 Mets victory.

The Dodgers will give the ball to Hiroki Kuroda (7-8, 3.74), who could use some help from his lineup to end a personal three-game losing streak. The right-hander has not received a single run of support in his last two starts, and has received two runs or fewer in eight of his last 10 outings while going 2-7.

The lack of support undermined a solid performance from Kuroda on Saturday. He allowed one run and four hits with eight strikeouts in six innings of a 2-0 loss at St. Louis.

He's 0-3 with a 7.71 ERA in four career starts versus the Mets. He took the loss against Takahashi on April 27 but pitched effectively, allowing two runs in six innings.