LOS ANGELES -- Buried among all the Hello Kitty night madness, yes, there is a Dodger game tonight.
Fresh off a series win against the Rangers, the Boys in Blue wrap up their home stand with a midweek clash against the slumping New York Mets.
Dodgers (11-4, 1st in NL West)
Through 15 games, the Dodgers aren’t just scoring — they’re sustaining. They’ve pushed past 5 runs in nine of those games, and more telling, they’ve done it without relying on one stretch or one hitter to carry everything. The sequencing that was missing early has flipped into something consistent.
Shohei Ohtani continues to sit at the center of that identity, extending his on-base streak to 46 games and repeatedly setting the tone early in games. His leadoff home run on Sunday was the latest example of how quickly he can tilt an inning, and when he reaches, the Dodgers have consistently found ways to stack at-bats behind him. Freddie Freeman has complemented that approach, not by carrying the offense outright, but by keeping innings alive and capitalizing when traffic is already there.
The difference, though, has been how much length this lineup suddenly has. Andy Pages has forced himself into a prominent role, driving in runs at a pace that’s kept rallies from stalling, including a four-RBI performance against Texas that pushed him among the league leaders early on. Max Muncy’s three-homer, walk-off performance on Friday wasn’t just a standout moment — it reinforced how dangerous the middle of the order becomes when multiple hitters are locked in at once.
Even the bottom of the lineup has contributed to that pressure. Dalton Rushing and Alex Freeland have extended innings in ways that don’t always show up immediately, but have allowed the top of the order to cycle back in more dangerous spots. It’s a lineup that doesn’t offer clean innings right now, and that’s changed the pace of games entirely.
On the mound, the Dodgers are still trending toward consistency rather than fully there. Yoshinobu Yamamoto will look to settle in after a start to the season that’s featured flashes of command but also innings that have unraveled quickly. Roki Sasaki showed both sides of his development in Sunday’s loss — swing-and-miss stuff with six strikeouts, but also five walks and an inability to work deep into the game. The raw stuff is evident, the efficiency is still developing.
That’s where the depth of the staff has mattered. Justin Wrobleski gets the series opener after picking up his first win, continuing to fill innings in a rotation that hasn’t needed to be dominant, just steady. Behind them, the bullpen has largely held its shape, bouncing back quickly after Edwin Díaz’s blown save Friday with multiple scoreless appearances to close out the series.
They enter this series not trying to find their rhythm, but to maintain one that’s already taken hold.
Mets (7-9, 4th in NL East)
The Mets arrive in Los Angeles on a five-game losing streak, having been swept by the Athletics while scoring just six total runs across the series, getting shut out twice. Over those last three games, they’ve managed a total of 10 hits.
The absence of Juan Soto has only magnified a lack of consistent production in the lineup. Without him, there’s no natural pressure point in the middle of the order. Rallies stall before they begin.
There have been flashes.
Bo Bichette homered as part of a three-home run stretch on Saturday. Francisco Alvarez and Jorge Polanco followed with long balls of their own. But even in that game, the offense couldn’t sustain momentum beyond isolated swings.
Pitching has kept them from completely slipping, but it’s carrying more weight than it should.
Freddy Peralta’s outing Sunday was exactly what they needed — six innings, one run, a chance to reset the series. It didn’t matter. There was no support behind it. That’s become a pattern. Even when the Mets get the start they’re looking for, the game doesn’t move with it.
The bullpen has started to feel the weight of those struggles as well. Luke Weaver has run into trouble in recent appearances, and with Clay Holmes dealing with hamstring tightness, the late-inning structure is less certain than it was earlier in the season.
Pitching Probables
Monday, April 13: Justin Wrobleski (1-0, 4.00 ERA) vs. David Peterson (0-2, 6.14 ERA)
Tuesday, April 14: Yoshinobu Yamamoto (1-0, 8.00 ERA) vs. Nolan McLean (1-0, 2.45 ERA)
Wednesday, April 15: Shohei Ohtani (1-0, 0.00 ERA) vs. TBD (0-0, 0.00 ERA)
Injury Report
Dodgers
Day-to-day: None
10-day IL: Mookie Betts, Tommy Edman
15-day IL: Brusdar Graterol, Landon Knack, Brock Stewart, Blake Snell
60-day IL: Jake Cousins, Kiké Hernández, Bobby Miller, Evan Phillips, Gavin Stone
Mets
Day-to-day: Clay Holmes
10-day IL: Juan Soto
15-day IL: A.J. Minter
60-day IL: Reed Garrett, Justin Hagenman, Tylor Megill, Dedniel Núñez, Mike Tauchman