Clayton Kershaw blanks the Mets yet again while another starting pitcher goes down with an injury

The Mets managed just four singles against Kershaw and the Dodger bullpen on Tuesday, while Kershaw earned career win no. 200

Michael Baron

Apr 19, 2023

What’s Up with the Mets? ⚾️

The Mets were shutout by Clayton Kershaw and the Dodger bullpen 5-0 at Dodger Stadium on Tuesday night (Box)
For Kershaw, it was career win number 200 - he is 11-0 with a 2.03 ERA in 17 starts lifetime against the Mets
LHP Clayton Kershaw allowed just three singles as he dazzled the Mets with his curveball for seven shutout innings
Tylor Megill started for the Mets and allowed three runs over five innings, while John Curtiss came in and struggled again in the eighth inning, allowing two runs to raise his ERA to 4.82 for the year

Roster Moves 🗞️

RHP Carlos Carrasco (right elbow inflammation) has been placed on the injured list
RHP Jeff Brigham recalled from Triple-A Syracuse
RHP Dennis Santana outrighted to Triple-A Syracuse

Injury Updates 🏥

RHP Carlos Carrasco (right elbow inflammation) is headed back to New York to undergo imaging on his elbow

Today’s Game 🗓

Match-up: Mets @ Dodgers

Where: Dodger Stadium - Los Angeles, CA

Starters: RHP Max Scherzer (2-1, 4.41 ERA) vs. RHP Noah Syndergaard (0-2, 5.63 ERA)

When: 3:10 PM EDT

Where to Watch: SNY

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Not much to say about that game… ✍🏻

Tuesday’s game was one of those which ends up in that third of the season the Mets were just never going to win.

Yeah, they didn’t hit. Yeah, Tylor Megill was so-so for five innings and the Mets were losing 2-0 in a blink of an eye.

But when Clayton Kershaw is throwing the way he did, like has so many times over his magnificent Hall of Fame career, game over before it started.

It’s as simple as that.

And these are the kinds of losses I think all of us can deal with. They happen, especially against pitchers like Kershaw. If he’s on, forget about it. Period, end of story.

The Mets are coming off a quality five-game winning streak and have a chance to win a series at Dodger Stadium, something which they did last year but is always a difficult feat to accomplish.

So, we deal. hat tip to Kershaw who was awesome again and honestly, was a pleasure to watch as he mowed the Mets down with that filthy, trademark curveball of his for win number 200. It was certainly a fitting way for him to notch that milestone.

Now, here’s the part of the day that is irking me.

Before the game, the Mets announced Carlos Carrasco was being placed on the injured list and is flying back to New York to undergo imaging on what is being described as elbow inflammation.

It’s not the injury that’s irking me. We all know pitchers break.

It’s that it’s April 18, game 18 of the season and four of the Mets aged starting pitchers have either missed a start, gone on the injured list, or both. All that remains from the original blue print is Kodai Senga.

Yes, Max Scherzer will pitch today but he will presumably be on a pitch count and closely monitored as he manages this scapula injury or whatever it is that’s ailing him.

The Mets have to figure out who is pitching on Friday in San Francisco too. Perhaps that will be Joey Lucchesi? He has a 2.30 ERA in three starts for Triple-A Syracuse, so he seems like a logical candidate.

But we all know this game of, “who is pitching on day X?” is not a sustainable formula for any team, let alone the Mets who had this known problem with the age of their pitching staff coming into the season. They had to figure out how to get at least 50 starts from Scherzer and Justin Verlander (that seems like a Hail Mary at this point), and all of that was before they lost José Quintana, Edwin Díaz, and now potentially Carlos Carrasco for long period of times.

Fun times for the Mets, as always.

Around the League 🚩

The Braves ran their winning streak to eight games as Spencer Strider threw six innings of one-hit ball in an 8-1 drubbing of the Padres in San Diego
Shohei Ohtani homered for the Angels as they went on to beat the Yankees 5-2 in the Bronx
The Phillies and White Sox split a doubleheader in Chicago - the Phils won the early game 7-4 behind Zach Wheeler, but were shutout 3-0 by Lucas Giolito and the White Sox bullpen in the night cap
The Reds and RHP Hunter Greene agreed to a six-year, $53 million extension (ESPN)
MLB commissioner Rob Manfred said the owners would prefer a limit on contract length for it’s players, while the MLBPA immediately balked at that concept (Athletic)
MLB and the independent Atlantic League will experiment with three rules: a designated pinch runner (ie, a courtesy runner), the pitcher being limited to a single disengagement from the pitching rubber, and a “double-hook” DH, meaning a team will lose their DH if the starting pitcher fails to complete five innings