Kershaw, Dodgers facing different Mets in playoffs

The New York Mets go on the road to play the Los Angeles Dodgers on Friday night in Game 1 of their National League Division Series. Here, ten things to know about the upcoming NLDS.

USA Today Sports’ Ted Berg breaks down the NL playoffs, including who has the edge to make it to the World Series. There’s no go-to setup man or 7 inning guy, but that problem can be avoided with deep runs by Kershaw and Greinke.

And make no mistake, Kershaw is one of those true greats.

Kershaw led the majors with 301 strikeouts during the regular season and allowed more than three earned runs in a start only once after May 21.

Of course, it’s not great.

“It all depends a lot on tonight, ” Collins said before the game. He almost matched deGrom’s stats column for column this season and is the undisputed ace of this staff. Six innings of Harvey is better than 90 percent of all pitchers in the sport.

It’s been 27 years since Los Angeles has seen its Boys in Blue take part in baseball’s biggest spectacle, the Fall Classic.

For the Dodgers, the main question mark will be whether they can get enough out of their supporting cast of starters, including Brett Anderson and possibly Alex Wood, as well as their bullpen once Kershaw and Greinke are removed from their starts.

This isn’t just a play-by-play listing.

Kershaw chatted with deGrom at the All-Star Game in July, already aware of deGroms explosive fastball. The Mets were 11th with a 3.48 ERA with Jeurys Familia (43 saves, 1.85 ERA) in the ninth-inning role and Tyler Clippard (3.06 ERA) setting him up. He was clearly done. Many people have speculated about whether they have driven each other to get better through a friendly competition, but it might have more to do with simply watching how the other prepares for his starts and then attacks hitters.

While both teams have to deal with the weather, there are a few factors to consider. DeGrom, last year’s NL rookie of the year, struck out two batters in each of his first four innings.

“This is how you become household names, is you have success in the postseason”, Mets captain David Wright said. It was one of the worst angles you’ll ever see an Major League Baseball outfielder take. “I think tomorrow is something a lot of these guys have been looking forward”, said Mets Manager Terry Collins. It’s just that Cuddyer hit.259/.309/.391 this season. Meanwhile, three of his five quality starts were also against the Cardinals. The Mets’ most consistent hitter, Curtis Granderson, is 1-7 in 2015 against Kershaw. 233 with three homers in 21 games.

As mentioned above, all four of the Mets projected starters will be making their first postseason appearances and starts in the NLDS.

Kershaw almost helped himself in the fourth when the Dodgers trailed by one.

And if they do, how will he fare? Look for this chemistry to continue to build, riding the Mets to a place where fans have been dreaming about for a long, long time. They have a payroll in the stratosphere.

Arms race: This series is loaded with fantastic starting pitching.

He successfully completed a bullpen session Tuesday, giving the Mets hope would recover on time. It can easily be explained. And in the regular season, he often delivers exactly as expected…

One of the victories for the team, if not the pitcher, was when Syndergaard went toe-to-toe with Clayton Kershaw on July 3 at Dodger Stadium.

The Dodgers have to win Game 2.