Game 4 New York Mets vs. Los Angeles Dodgers Prediction:
The Los Angeles Dodgers look to gain control of the National League Championship Series on the road on Thursday as they send $300 million man Yoshinobu Yamamoto to the mound for a big road start against the New York Mets.
Yamamoto in Game 5 of the Dodgers divisional series against the San Diego Padres had his best start since going on the injured list during the middle of the season with five scoreless innings, but has struggled overall in six starts between the regular season and playoffs since coming off of the IL.
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Yamamoto is averaging only four innings per start since returning, leaving a Dodgers bullpen that from July 1 until the end of the regular season had a 4.03 ERA exposed, while Yamamoto has a 4.13 ERA since his return with three walks per nine innings allowed.
While the overall season numbers of Mets starting pitcher Jose Quintana do not match those of Yamamoto, he’s pitching his best at just the right time.
In Quintana’s last eight starts between the regular season and playoffs, he has allowed only five total runs, three of which were earned runs, across 47 1/3 innings for a 0.57 ERA without any home runs allowed in this span.
Thursday will present Quintana with his biggest challenge in this stretch, facing a Dodgers team that led all teams that made the postseason with 5.2 runs per game overall and 5.5 runs per game on the road.
While the Mets offense hasn’t been on that level, they ranked eighth during the regular season with 4.8 runs per game at Citi Field, which plays a bit more to pitchers than hitters.
While Quintana between the regular season and playoffs has a 3.52 ERA, his recent form over the past 50 days is as good as anyone’s in baseball and will be enough to get the Mets to victory in Game 4.
The Play: New York Mets +120
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