The Los Angeles Dodgers will seek to even their National League Division Series against the New York Mets at one game a piece today, sending Zack Greinke to the mound against fellow right-hander Noah Syndergaard at Dodger Stadium.
Greinke had Major League Baseball’s best ERA (1.66) and winning percentage (.864, based on a 19-3 record) during the regular season and was 1-0 with a 1.28 ERA in two starts against the Mets.
Syndergaard is a 23-year-old rookie from Mansfield, Texas who was recalled by New York on May 9 from its Las Vegas Pacific Coast League affiliate. He was 9-7 with a 3.24 ERA in the regular season.
Syndergaard had a no-decision in his only appearance against the Dodgers, pitching six innings, allowing one run on two hits, striking out six and walking two in the Mets 2-1 victory at Dodger Stadium on July 3.
Syndergaard was chosen by the Toronto Blue Jays in the first round of the 2010 MLB Draft out of Legacy High School in Mansfield and acquired by the Mets in the 2012 trade that sent 2012 National League Cy Young Award winner R.A. Dickey to Toronto.
The Dodgers are advising fans to arrive as early as possible and embrace car pooling and alternative transportation.
The Dodger Stadium Express shuttle bus service from Union Station will begin service at 3:37 p.m., 2 1/2 hours before the first pitch. The service is free for everyone with a game ticket.
South Bay Dodger Stadium Express Service will begin two hours before the game from the Harbor Gateway Transit Center.
Auto gates will open at 3:07 p.m. The left field plaza will be open for fans to enter and watch batting practice from 3:30-4 p.m. Stadium gates will open at 3:30 p.m.
The game will begin at 6:07 p.m.
Freeway congestion is expected to be heavier than usual for a Saturday because of the U.S.-Mexico CONCACAF Cup soccer game at the Rose Bowl, set to start shortly after 6 p.m., just like the Dodger game.
Face painters will be on hand in the left field plaza and DJ Adam will provide musical entertainment in the right field plaza from 4-6 p.m.
Mariachi Sol de Mexico de Jose Hernandez will perform on the field pregame and the national anthem.
Former Dodger manager Tommy Lasorda will throw the ceremonial first pitch.
U.S. Air Force Maj. Robert Daugherty of Barstow will be the military hero of the game. Daugherty enlisted in 1994 and has served as a basic military training instructor and trained as a flight navigator and combat systems operator.
Daugherty deployed to Afghanistan nine times in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom and Operation Enduring Freedom. He will retire in January after 21 years of military service.
The Dodgers opened the best-of-five series with a 3-1 loss Friday night before a sellout crowd of 54,428 as Clayton Kershaw lost his team-record fifth consecutive postseason game.
Jacob deGrom struck out 13 in seven shutout innings, did not allow a runner past second base and retired the final 11 batters he faced in the Mets’ first postseason game since 2006.
“I got out-pitched,” said Kershaw, who was charged with all three New York runs in 6 2/3 innings, allowing four hits, striking out 11 and walking four. Two of the batters he walked scored.
“That’s basically the moral of the story. Jacob pitched an amazing game. We battled and got deep on some counts, but he out-pitched me plain and simple.”
With the Dodgers trailing 1-0 in the seventh thanks to Daniel Murphy’s fourth-inning home run, Kershaw walked three batters to load the bases, prompting manager Don Mattingly to summon right-hander Pedro Baez from the bullpen to face David Wright with two outs.
“At that point, I got to feel like we’ll go right-handed there against David,” Mattingly said.
Baez fell behind 2-0, then allowed a two-run single on a full-count 99- mph fastball.
The Dodgers scored their run in the eighth off reliever Tyler Clippard when Adrian Gonzalez doubled in Howie Kendrick, who also doubled, with two outs.
Mets closer Jeurys Familia then replaced Clippard and retired Justin Turner to end the eighth. Familia pitched a perfect ninth to complete the save.
deGrom allowed five hits and walked one, intentionally.
“I thought about the fourth and fifth inning I thought he started to settle in a lot better than he started that game,” New York manager Terry Collins said.
“I think he was making better pitches. He was using his breaking ball a lot more effectively.”
The 27-year-old left-hander in his second season in the majors did not allow a runner past second.
Turner doubled leading off the second and Corey Sager doubled with two outs in the third, but were unable to advance.
Singles by Turner and A.J. Ellis gave the Dodgers runners on first and second with one out in the fourth, but Joc Pederson and Kershaw both flew out to end the inning.
The two teams combined for 27 strikeouts, one shy of the postseason record for a nine-inning game, 28, set by the San Diego Padres and Houston Astros in Game 1 of their 1998 National League Division Series.
This was the first postseason game in which both starting pitchers had 11 or more strikeouts and the second game in postseason history in which each starter had at least 10. The other was Game 5 of the 1944 World Series between the St. Louis Browns and St. Louis Cardinals.
deGrom’s 13 strikeouts tied the Mets’ postseason record set by Hall of Famer Tom Seaver in Game 1 of the 1973 National League Championship Series against the Cincinnati Reds.
