Penny Takes on Mets
Even if he won’t be at Yankee Stadium, Los Angeles manager Joe Torre knows his return to New York won’t go unnoticed.
Torre visits New York for the first time since joining the Dodgers as his team opens a four-game series with the Mets at Shea Stadium on Thursday.
Oddsmakers from Sportsbook.com have made New York -116 money line favorites (MLB Odds) for tonight’s game, the over/under has been set at 9 total runs (Matchup). Current public betting information shows that 66% of bets for this game have been placed on New York -116 (View MLB Bet Percentages).
Torre managed the Yankees for 12 seasons, winning four World Series championships in his first five seasons and becoming the second-winningest manager in team history with 1,173 victories. However, he signed a three-year, $13 million contract with the Dodgers in the offseason after rejecting a one-year offer from the Yankees worth $5 million – a $2.5 million cut from his previous deal.
"It’s going to be crazy, there’s no question," Torre said of his return to New York. "It’s not Yankee Stadium, so, it won’t be as significant as if I were to go back there."
Of course, Torre likely has more on his mind than just a trip back to the Big Apple. His Dodgers were swept in three games at Wrigley Field this week, capped by Wednesday’s 10-inning, 2-1 defeat, and they managed just one run in each of the losses to the Cubs.
Los Angeles (26-26) fell back to .500 for the first time since it was 19-19 on May 13.
The Mets (25-26) have been going through their own struggles. They have dropped seven of 10, placing the job security of manager Willie Randolph – a former Yankees coach under Torre – in question.
"I certainly feel for Willie," Torre said. "Anybody who has managed in New York has been exposed to what he is being exposed to right now. The fans have been angry, and that seems to be a product of last year. We got a little taste of that in ’04 after we lost to the Red Sox."
However, Randolph’s Mets took two of three from NL East-leading Florida this week, including Wednesday’s dramatic 12-inning, 7-6 victory. Endy Chavez hit his first home run in more than a year to tie the game in the bottom of the ninth, and Fernando Tatis delivered the winning two-run double in the 12th.
New York won for the first time this season when trailing after eight innings.
"What a great ball game," Randolph said. "Hopefully that’s the one that kickstarts us."
The Mets will try to keep rolling against Los Angeles starter Brad Penny (5-5, 5.32 ERA), who is 0-3 with a 9.13 ERA over his last four starts. He went seven innings Saturday but gave up four runs – all in the third – in a 4-0 loss to St. Louis.
The loss gave Penny one more than he had all of last season, when he matched his career high with 16 wins and posted a career-low 3.03 ERA.
"I think I threw the ball pretty well with the exception of two hitters," he said. "For me, I probably felt the best I’ve felt in five years, stuff-wise."
Penny has struggled against the Mets, going 5-12 with a 6.21 ERA in 20 starts. He has lost his last four starts at Shea, where he is 1-9 with a 6.54 ERA in 11 outings.
Penny’s current losing streak started when he was pounded for a career-high 10 runs in a season-low 4 2-3 innings of a 12-1 home loss to the Mets.
New York counters with Claudio Vargas (1-2, 3.93), coming off his first victory in three starts since being called up from Triple-A New Orleans. He gave up two runs in seven innings of Saturday’s 9-2 win in Colorado.
Vargas is 2-2 with a 4.29 ERA in eight career appearances – six starts – against the Dodgers. He is facing Los Angeles for the first time since 2006 while with Arizona.
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