A WEEKEND AT CITI : THE STARS ARE OUT

BY MIKE RIFKIN

Memorial Day weekend, the first sign of summer coming and that means Baseball will take over the hierarchy. And what better way to celebrate the weekend with an epic showdown in the greatest city in the world. The Mets will welcome the Dodgers to Citi Field this weekend in a rematch from last year’s NLCS, which saw the Dodgers win in six games. These two teams have two of the top four records in the National League so far this season. 

The two teams have won in different ways. The Dodgers possess one of the league’s best lineups. The Dodgers lead the league in batting average (.267), second in home runs (81), second in hits (454). The Mets pitching has led the way to start the season. The Mets lead the league in ERA (2.82) and are fourth in strikeouts (448).

The stars will be out at Citi Field this weekend. The top of the Dodgers lineup has been sensational, led by Shohei Ohtani. Freddie Freeman, Mookie Betts, Teoscar Hernandez and Will Smith are all off to fantastic starts. But the Dodgers are so deep that Tommy Edman, who won NLCS MVP just came off the IL has eight homers. 

To counter the Dodgers star power the Mets signed Juan Soto to a record contract. Now, while Soto isn’t off to the start most people expected, this might be the series that Soto turns it around. Francisco Lindor and Pete Alonso have carried the Mets offense so far this season. 

Pitching matchups 

Friday Clayton Kershaw (0-0 11.25) vs Griffin Canning (5-1 2.47)

Saturday Tony Gonsolin (2-0 4.05) vs David Peterson (2-2 2.86)

Sunday Landon Knack (2-1 6.17) vs Kodai Senga ( 4-3 1.43)