Los Angeles Dodgers

Back in saddle, Mets' Matz faces Dodgers (Jun 22, 2017)

Published Jun. 22, 2017 3:53 a.m. ET

LOS ANGELES -- The New York Mets can wonder what their season might have looked like if Steve Matz had been available from the start, before injuries overwhelmed the rotation.

The left-hander, who will start Thursday against the Los Angeles Dodgers, is one of five Mets starters who have spent time on the disabled list this season, joining ace Noah Syndergaard, Seth Lugo, Zack Wheeler and Matt Harvey.

Los Angeles, riding a six-game winning streak, will be looking to complete a four-game series sweep.

Matz returned two weeks ago and put together back-to-back seven-inning outings, something only Syndergaard had managed for the Mets this season. Matz is the first Met to do so in his first two outings of a season since Harvey went seven innings in four straight games in 2013.

Matz was sidelined in spring training with elbow tenderness that lingered into the season. He finally returned for a June 10 start at Atlanta, and he went seven innings and allowed five hits, one run and one walk in an 8-1 win. He came back with seven more innings in a Friday loss to Washington in which he allowed eight hits and four runs without a walk.

He is 2-0 lifetime against the Dodgers in regular-season play, with a 1.50 ERA and 13 strikeouts in 12 innings. Matz started and took the loss in Game 4 of the 2015 National League Division Series, a 3-1 decision. He was 4-0 with a 2.27 ERA in 2015, when the Mets advanced to the World Series, and 9-8 with a 3.40 ERA in 2016.

"This is what we thought we were going to get from guys we thought we were going to have," manager Terry Collins said of Matz. "Unfortunately, we haven't, and we have had to play without them. We've just got to make sure we work very hard to make sure Steven goes out there every five or six days."

Matz said after his 2017 debut, "It just feels really good to get back out there and compete. I didn't really have my greatest, sharpest stuff today, but I was able to execute my pitches when I did."

His opposition in the series finale against the Dodgers knows about injuries. Hyun-Jin Ryu was 28-15 in his first two seasons with the Dodgers (2013-14) before a shoulder injury shut him down for all of 2015. He returned in 2016 long enough to make one appearance before an elbow injury ended that season.

He has been inconsistent in 2017 (3-6, 4.35 ERA), losing his first four starts and rarely going deep. Ryu had a breakthrough in a 7-2 win over Miami in mid-May, going 5 1/3 innings before hitting his pitch count. Soreness led him to miss his next turn, but he threw four shutout innings in a relief appearance against St. Louis, picking up his first career save.

Ryu balked at being used in relief, but the Dodgers have indicated starting pitching is a fluid exercise in the era of five-inning outings and the beneficial 10-day DL.

Manager Dave Roberts told Ryu the Dodgers consider him a starter but that he has to understand the nature of the game.

"I told him it wasn't permanent," Roberts said. "We have an excess of quality starting pitchers, so getting innings for all of our guys is tough. I know he was excited when he got back in the rotation. It's what he's known throughout his career."

Ryu is 2-0 with a 1.80 ERA in three career appearances against the Mets, with a 1.80 ERA and 20 strikeouts in 20 innings. All of those outings, however, came before his injuries.