The pitching matchup is so close that even Greinke’s own teammate, Game 4 victor Clayton Kershaw has trouble picking a favorite. What more: Matz has yet to allow more than three runs in a start. The three-time Cy Young Award victor lowered his playoff ERA to 4.59, and he emerged with a victory for the first time in three postseason starts when pitching on three days’ rest.
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“I talked to him on the plane today and he said he’d be ready”, the manager said. I mean, this kid is tremendous. For the Dodgers, the best hope is to score a few runs early (as in Game 4) and let Greinke pitch with a lead that he will likely not relinquish. “This guy’s an animal, the way he works, represents us, the game of baseball, himself”. So they’re about as similar as you’re going to get, I guess.
The Dodgers will send Game 2 victor Zack Greinke to the mound, while the Mets will send Game 1 victor Jacob deGrom to the mound to face the Dodgers. Would it have been different with deGrom, who outpitched Kershaw in Game 1? This was a carry-over from deGrom’s success against the Dodgers in the regular season. “Just got to get through the seventh”.
Thursday night has the potential to be one of his most interesting moments. Right-hander Kenley Jansen came on and walked third baseman David Wright before retiring second baseman Daniel Murphy on a fly to right.
However so will the Dodgers, who had fits with deGrom and Syndergaard in the first two games. Of the dozen best-of-five series to follow that pattern, seven stayed on turn, with the Game 1 victor winning Game 5, while five saw the pattern snapped in Game 5. “I really wanted to win tonight, definitely. Just a little more experience from deGrom maybe”. He has lasted seven innings in all three starts against the Mets this season, allowing four total runs. 313 in the series with a homer and a team-high five RBIs in the series.
Fittingly, the Dodgers’ season could either be prolonged or end on back-to-back appearances by Kershaw and Greinke, whose arms propelled them to a third consecutive NL West title and a franchise-record third straight playoff appearance.
New York Mets manager Terry Collins answers questions during a news conference on travel day in preparation for Thursday’s Game 5 of the National League Division Series against the Los Angeles Dodgers in Los Angeles, Wednesday…
If the Dodgers want to avoid elimination, they need to transform Kershaw’s postseason reputation.
Kershaw singled to left-centre on a 2-2 curve for the first hit of the game. “They’re both really fast and they both are good hitting pitchers”. “I just think we never give up and we battle until the end”.
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“As good as Zack is and has been the whole year, deGrom has been the same, so there’s really no home-field advantage when you’re facing a guy like deGrom”, he said. He’ll be back in the outfield, replacing Juan Lagares, who started both games at Citi Field. “They’ve got their guy… if he’s on and he’s throwing the ball where he wants and making pitches, it’s going to be a hard day”. “We’ve got all the confidence in the world that if we get to the next round, he’s going to be a part of that rotation”. Ultimately, the Mets chose to go with rookie left-hander Steven Matz, preferring to save deGrom either for Thursday or, perhaps, Game 1 of the NL Championship Series against the Chicago Cubs.
