Short, sweet, and to the point – Max beat the Mets … both of them – by a lopsided score of 14-4 on Sunday evening in front of 31,205 at Citi Field to complete a three-game sweep.

Recently acquired right-hander Max Scherzer picked up the win, his 10th of the season and first in a Dodger uniform (to go with his four losses – none as a Dodger). In doing so, the St. Louis, MO native and first-round draft pick in 2006 by the Arizona Diamondbacks out of the University of Missouri lowered his season ERA to an excellent 2.69 while allowing only two runs on four hits with two walks and seven strikeouts in his brilliant 6.0 innings pitched.

“You kinda gotta ignore the scoreboard in those situations once you get a big lead because it’s very easy to let your guard down thinking that you have the game kind of wrapped up because there is a big lead,” Scherzer told reporters postgame, “That’s the biggest trap baseball throws at you, you come down a little bit against major league hitters and you execute the wrong pitch, all of a sudden you can give up a three-run shot, or give up four or five runs, and then it’s a different ballgame. And so, as a pitcher, in my experiences, in those situations, you gotta stay on the gas pedal and really go after a line-up and attack with everything you got and let the chips fall where they may.”

And you wonder why this guy is headed to Cooperstown.

Dodgers first baseman Max Muncy provided most of his team’s offensive fireworks in the series finale, slugging two of the Dodgers five home runs on the night – the first a two-run shot in the top of the second inning off of Mets right-hander Carlos Carrasco, and the second a two-run shot in the top of the sixth off right-hander Yennsy Díaz.

Despite their just-concluded 5-1 road trip, the Dodgers remain 4.0 games behind the NL West-leading San Francisco Giants, who have won eight of their last 10 games.

“We need to go out here and keep playing good games,” Muncy said postgame. “At the end of the season, it’s going to be how it’s going to be, but we can’t worry about other teams. We have to worry about ourselves.”

Dodgers’ third baseman Justin Turner, catcher Will Smith, and replacement first baseman Matt Beaty also homered during Sunday’s nationally-televised (ESPN) game, with Scherzer getting bullpen help from left-hander Darien Núñez and right-handers Edwin Uceta, and Conner Greene.

The Dodgers return home to open a three-game series with the Pittsburgh Pirates beginning on Monday night, followed by four more against the Mets before hitting the road again.

Play Ball!

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