LOS ANGELES --
FIRST PITCH: Let the games begin!
After four days of inaction, the New York Mets finally open their best-of-five division series against the Los Angeles Dodgers at 9:45 p.m. ET on Friday at Chavez Ravine.
Jacob deGrom (14-8, 2.54 ERA) steps onto the big stage to oppose left-hander Clayton Kershaw (16-7, 2.13).
Kershaw, by the way, is 0-4 with a 7.15 ERA in his last four postseason starts -- albeit all against the St. Louis Cardinals, in 2013 and ’14.
Still, Kershaw is 6-0 with a 1.34 ERA in nine career starts against the Mets, including 1-0 with a 0.56 ERA in 16 innings this season. Of course, John Mayberry Jr. was hitting cleanup when Kershaw tossed a three-hit shutout at Citi Field on July 23. Mayberry was designated for assignment the next day.
The Mets must submit their roster by 1 p.m. ET, but the 25-man crew now appears clear.
Steven Matz threw an 88-pitch simulated game in Port St. Lucie, Florida, on Thursday as he works back from back spasms. Assuming he has no difficulty playing catch on Friday morning, Matz will meet the Mets in New York and start Game 4 of the division series, after deGrom, then Noah Syndergaard and Matt Harvey get their turns.
That means Sean Gilmartin will fall short of being included on the roster and instead will serve as part of a taxi squad with Anthony Recker, Eric Young Jr., Eric Campbell, Logan Verrett, Carlos Torres and Bobby Parnell.
Manager Terry Collins will wait until Friday to reveal his batting order, but he has acknowledged the Game 1 starters: Travis d'Arnaud, Lucas Duda, Daniel Murphy, David Wright, Ruben Tejada, Michael Cuddyer, Yoenis Cespedes and Curtis Granderson.
That leaves a bench of lefty-hitting Michael Conforto, Kelly Johnson and Kirk Nieuwenhuis and righty-hitting Wilmer Flores, Juan Lagares and Kevin Plawecki. Conforto may only start against Zack Greinke in Game 2 as Collins uses Cuddyer against left-handed pitching. Flores said his strep throat and back issue are behind him. Still, Tejada is slated to start the series opener.
The bullpen will consist of Jeurys Familia, Tyler Clippard, Addison Reed, Bartolo Colon, Jonathon Niese, Erik Goeddel and Hansel Robles. Collins said Clippard will remain the primary setup man, in part because of his success against lefty batters. Niese surprised himself with his ability to warm up quickly while working as a reliever during the final week of the regular season.
FRIDAY’S NEWS REPORTS:
The NLDS start times have been set. Game 2 will begin at 9:07 p.m. ET Saturday. When the series shifts to Citi Field, Game 3 will be held on Monday at either 8:37 p.m. ET (if there are three other postseason games that day) or at 8:07 p.m. ET (if there are one or two other postseason games that day). If necessary, Game 4 on Tuesday and Game 5 on Thursday are locked into 8:07 p.m. ET.
Read more on Matz all but set to be included on the roster to start Game 4 in the Post, Daily News, Times and Record and at MLB.com.
Read more on deGrom’s start in the Post.
Marc Carig in Newsday writes a feature on Collins, who will be managing in the postseason for the first time in his career at age 66. "I'd like another chance to do this because I see a real bright future here,” Collins tells Carig about his status for 2016 and beyond. “But I'm not going to do it for a long time. I'm going to go have some fun, get up when I want to get up, go play golf, mow the yard, stuff that makes me relaxed.”
Legendary Dodgers broadcaster Vin Scully, 87, will miss the postseason after undergoing an undisclosed surgical procedure on Thursday, the team announced. Read more in the Los Angeles Times, Post, Daily News and Newsday.
Among active players, longtime Phillies Ryan Howard (44), Chase Utley (35) and Jimmy Rollins (33) have the most homers against the Mets. Now Utley and Rollins are with the Dodgers. Read Rollins’ stroll down memory lane in the Post and Daily News and at NJ.com.
Brian Costa in the Journal catches up with Seth Fleischauer, who was plastered on tabloids as the face of the sad Mets fan after the team’s collapse to Rollins and the Phillies in 2007. “It’s exhilarating to think that this chapter is finally closed,” Fleischauer, now 36 and living in Los Angeles, tells Costa. “My hope is that at some point, when you Google ‘Mets fan,’ I’m not the first hit that comes up.” Fleischauer has tickets for Game 5 at Dodger Stadium if the series goes the distance.
Columnist Joel Sherman in the Post identifies five keys to the Mets beating the Dodgers.
Bill Shaikin in the Los Angeles Times compares Manny Ramirez’s impact on the 2008 Dodgers to Cespedes’ impact on the Mets this season.
Keith Hernandez tells Neil Best in Newsday that he is appalled by Harvey’s tardiness to Tuesday’s mandatory workout at Citi Field. “I'm astounded after all that's gone down that this happened. I'm flabbergasted about it,” Hernandez tells Best. “But as my father used to say: 'You make your bed, you've got to sleep in it.' I just think at this particular point of the season it's really, really not good.” Meanwhile, critic Bob Raissman in the Daily News asserts that the same media folks who built up Harvey are now the ones hypocritically chastising him.
Mets fans to prepare for a “thrilling, nerve-wracking ride,” columnist Mike Vaccaro writes in the Post.
With the Yankees eliminated, the New York baseball stage solely belongs to the Mets, columnist John Harper writes in the Daily News.
Mike Puma in the Post and Peter Botte in the Daily News do position-by-position comparisons of the Mets and Dodgers. Puma picks the Mets to win the series in five games.
Columnist Anthony Rieber in Newsday reminisces about the July 29 trade of Flores to the Milwaukee Brewers that didn’t happen.
Dodgers manager Don Mattingly has a lot of respect for the Mets’ starting pitchers, Botte writes in the Daily News.
Columnist David Lennon in Newsday recalls Mattingly offering Wright advice this summer about preparing for games while dealing with a back condition. "I asked him questions about his routine moving forward,” Wright tells Lennon. “I asked him questions about how he felt on a daily basis. There are things I do now that are similar to what he still does. He put my mind at ease and also got me somewhat into the routine that I'm in now."
Joe Belock in the Daily News recaps 10 memorable moments in Mets-Dodgers history.
Anthony DiComo at MLB.com looks at the Mets’ standout young rotation.
Carig in Newsday notes the Mets do not have a lefty specialist in their bullpen.
Read more on the Mets using their lefty hitters, except for Conforto, against the southpaw Kershaw in the Journal.
Howie Kussoy in the Post has a feature on Wright.
Familia says the big difference between 2014 and 2015 for him is his ability to forget when something bad happens and move on to the next day. “Last year I thought about it too much,” said Familia, who matched Armando Benitez’s franchise single-season saves record on the final day of the regular season with No 43. “This year, if they homer and [score] a couple of runs, I try to forget it the next day, come in with a new mind and do my job.” Read more in the Post.
Lloyd Carroll in the Queens Chronicle advocates using Colon as a starter in the division series.
Columnist Lyle Spencer at MLB.com reflects on Collins’ Dodgers roots.
From the bloggers … Mets Report believes Ron Darling was too kind in his critique of Harvey’s missed workout.
BIRTHDAYS: Bill Pulsipher turns 42. ... Jason Pridie is 32. ... Alay Soler is 36. ... Jim Tatum is 48. ... Kingsport right-hander Merandy Gonzalez is 20.
TWEET OF THE DAY:
The team may be in LA, but there's still work to be done at home! #LGM pic.twitter.com/Du8RD06aar
— New York Mets (@Mets) October 8, 2015YOU’RE UP: What will Kershaw’s line be in Game 1?