Coming off a 17-1 victory against the Cubs, the Mets will open a three-game series against the first place Los Angeles Dodgers.

The Mets desperately needed that win and came through in huge fashion by clubbing four home runs. Meanwhile, the Dodgers are coming off being swept by the San Francisco Giants without scoring a run in the series.

Former Met starter Chris Capuano will take the hill tonight for the Dodgers. After a decent year in New York last year, Capuano is off to a 9-2 start with a 2.60 ERA for the Dodgers.

Is this the same Capuano the Mets had last year who was 11-12 with a 4.55 ERA in 31 starts?

It sure is, yet this year’s Capuano has pitched more efficiently, limiting his pitch counts which has allowed him to go deeper into games and qualify for wins.

Capuano was actually a present surprise for last year’s Mets. Yes, he finished under .500, but to make 31 starts a year removed from Tommy John surgery is pretty impressive.

He kept his team in the game, but once again, the high pitch counts hurt him. It seemed as though he was always throwing his 100th pitch sometime in the fifth inning. Naturally, it would have been unwise to push him past his limits based on his injury history.

I thought the Mets would have been players this offseason to re-sign Capuano. They had Johan Santana coming back, as well as R.A. Dickey, Mike Pelfrey, Jon Niese and Dillon Gee. Capuano could have served as a spot starter and long reliever. Once Pelfrey went down, Capuano could have slid back into the rotation.

However, the 33-year-old’s price tag was way too high for that sort of swingman role, so the Dodgers took a gamble on him, signing the lefty to a two-year, $10 million deal. Let’s just say $10 million for Capuano was not exactly on the Mets top priority list this offseason.

I’m glad Capuano is experiencing success. He seemed like a hard-working guy and a good teammate while he was here, and it’s a great story that he’s been able to overcome injury.

That being said, I’d like to see the Mets put up another 17 runs today—this time at the expense of Capuano. The team needs to put together consistent offensive performances, and tonight’s a great way to start.

So good luck the rest of the way to Capuano, but hopefully he enters his next start with a 9-3 record.