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Mets, Dodgers meet in Game 1 on Friday
By: Zach Cohen - StatFox
Published: 10/9/2015  at  4:49:00 PM
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NEW YORK METS (90-72)

at LOS ANGELES DODGERS (92-70)

First pitch: Friday, 9:45 p.m. ET
NL Division Series – Game 1
I wLine: New York +187, Los Angeles -205, Total: 5.5

The Mets will be looking to steal Game 1 with a road victory over the Dodgers Friday night.

New York was not considered by many to be a playoff team before the season, but this group was outstanding all year. The Mets did, however, lose five of their final six regular season games and it ultimately cost them home field advantage in this series. The Dodgers, meanwhile, won their final four games of the year to steal home field in this series. Both teams are similar in that they both rely mostly on elite starting pitching to win games. Game 1 is going to feature two of the best in the world, as RHP Jacob deGrom (14-8, 2.54 ERA, 205 K) of the Mets takes on LHP Clayton Kershaw (16-7, 2.13 ERA, 301 K) of the Dodgers. During the regular season, the Mets won four of the seven games these teams played. They also won two in a three-game set in Los Angeles as well. The trends, meanwhile, will greatly favor the Dodgers in this one. Los Angeles is 16-2 against the money line with an on base percentage of .300 or worse over its past 15 games of the season. Also, road underdogs with a money line of +175 to +250 with a starting pitcher whose ERA is 3.00 or better on the season against an opponent with a starting pitcher whose WHIP is 1.250 or better on the season are 11-81 against the money line since 1997. 3B Juan Uribe (Chest) is out indefinitely for the Mets and OF Yasiel Puig (Hamstring) is set to return to the Dodgers at some point in this series.

The Mets rode their starting pitching all season and that will continue throughout the postseason. Jacob deGrom will be tasked with trying to outduel Clayton Kershaw in this one. He pitched four innings and struck out seven in his final outing of the year, allowing no earned runs in what was just an attempt to keep him loose heading into the postseason. In deGrom’s only start against the Dodgers this season, he pitched 7.2 innings and struck out eight batters while not allowing a single earned run. He’ll be looking to blank them once again Friday night. Offensively, the Mets will be counting on both 3B David Wright (.289, 5 HR, 17 RBI) and OF Yoenis Cespedes (.291, 35 HR, 105 RBI) big time. Cespedes will need to snap out of the slump he was in heading into the playoffs. He has not homered since Sep. 14 and the Mets will desperately need his power if they are going to advance to the next round.

Clayton Kershaw will be on the mound for the Dodgers and he’ll be looking to prove to people that he can carry over his dominant regular season pitching into the postseason. Kershaw has struggled in the playoffs in his career, going a particularly awful 0-2 with a 7.82 ERA in two starts last year in the postseason. He did, however, have another brilliant year and needs to treat this like any other game. In two starts against the Mets this season, Kershaw pitched 16 innings and allowed just one earned run while striking out 18 batters. Offensively 1B Adrian Gonzalez (.275, 28 HR, 90 RBI) must have a big series. He is the most dangerous hitter in this lineup by a wide margin and the team likely will not advance unless he produces in a big way. OF Yasiel Puig (.255, 11 HR, 38 RBI) could spark this team, but he is likely to remain on the bench until Game 3 or 4.


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