The Dodgers have set their pitching rotation for the first three games of their best-of-five NL playoff series against the New York Mets. I’ve talked to (general manager) Sandy (Alderson) and I’ve talked to Terry and my teammates and apologized to them and apologized to everybody. Alderson says he’s sure there will be one, and declined to comment further until then.
Advertisement
Matt Harvey has been under the media spotlight recently following comments made by his agent about Harvey’s availability to pitch in the postseason, considering the number of innings he’s already tossed this season, his first since Tommy John surgery. But the Dodgers’ series-tying win in Game Four – which took place 27 years ago Friday, when the Mets and Dodgers are scheduled to open the NLDS at Dodger Stadium – turned an otherwise ordinary NLCS into a classic.
The right-hander has cultivated an alpha-male image (with a willing boost from the Mets’ staff) and gets his initial opportunity on the October stage Monday in the first playoff game at 7-season-old Citi Field.
“Obviously, (Tuesday) was not the greatest”, Harvey told reporters, via ESPN.com. We could argue that the Dodgers won the division because San Francisco didn’t have a great season but their numbers were eerily similar to the Mets in that the work on the mound was the key to their success. “I think we’re going to be able to go out there and play our game”, Collins said.
It was Scioscia’s home run against Dwight Gooden in the 1988 NLCS that catapulted the Dodgers to the World Series while Teufel and his Mets teammates wondered how their ace had lost. Clayton Kershaw, the major league baseball ERA leader for four straight seasons, before being unseated this year by Zack Greinke and his 1.66 ERA.
“We all know they are two of the best pitchers in the game and the other guys they’ve got following aren’t awful either”, Michael Cuddyer said. “There’s not really anything else to say, they know what happened”. In 189 innings, he struck out a total of 188 opponents and posted a 2.71 ERA.
Granderson said Harvey arriving late was not a big deal among the players. It’s never happened before. But Mattingly said the club took into consideration the possibility of the series going long in lining up Kershaw, Greinke and Brett Anderson, in that order. “They’re going to throw the same pitches”, Mets slugger Yoenis Cespedes said through a translator.
“I think we’ve been encouraged over the last couple of days”, the GM added.
The Mets have two tough games ahead of them, but it seems that the players are confident their past experiences will help them prevail against the Dodgers’ dominate duo.
Advertisement
Even Matt Harvey gets stuck in traffic, just like the rest of us.
