Tale of the Tape: deGrom vs. Greinke
A matchup with the Chicago Cubs is on the line as the Dodgers beat the Mets, 3-1, in Game 4 in New York to even the series and force a Game 5 back in Los Angeles on Thursday (8 p.m. ET, TBS).
Expect more superb pitching as the Mets turn to their ace Jacob deGrom, while the Dodgers will have Zack Greinke, who led the Majors in ERA during the regular season.
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Here's a look at how these pitchers stack up:
Zack Greinke, Dodgers
Against the opponent
This series: 1 GS, 1-0, 2.57 ERA
2015: 2 GS, 1-0, 1.29 ERA
Career (regular season): 6 GS, 3-1, 2.48 ERA
Loves to face: Juan Lagares .125 (1-for-8), K; Kelly Johnson .000 (0-for-9); Lucas Duda .200 (3-for-15), 5 K's.
Hates to face: Daniel Murphy .313 (5-for-16); Wilmer Flores .375 (3-for-8); Jacob deGrom .400 (2-for-5), 2B, RBI.
Game breakdown
Why he'll win: He had the lowest ERA in the regular season at 1.66 and he already beat the Mets in Game 2. His ERA at home is a stingy 1.46 and the Dodgers are 24-9 in games that he started this season. That's a .727 winning percentage.
Getting on base against Greinke was a difficult task at Dodger Stadium, where his 0.81 WHIP was the lowest by any pitcher at home (min. 15 starts) since Catfish Hunter in 1972. Since joining the Dodgers in 2013, Greinke's 2.01 home ERA is the lowest of any starting pitcher besides Clayton Kershaw.
Pitcher beware: Greinke allowed a pair of home runs in Game 2, just the third time this season he's allowed a pair of dingers. Facing the Mets for the fourth time this season, New York will have seen nearly everything that Greinke has to offer and will be well prepared for the former Cy Young Award winner.
Greinke's Game 2 start also brought him to 229 2/3 innings for the season, a new career high and about 20 more than he threw last year.
Bottom line: The Dodgers have their "second" ace starting with the season on the line. Greinke has been as consistent as a metronome this season by pitching at least six innings in all of his starts this season. Greinke has posted a quality start in 31 of his 33 starts this year.
Video: LAD@NYM Gm4: Mattingly on starting Greinke in Game 5
Jacob deGrom, Mets
Against the opponent
This series: 1 GS, 1-0, 0.00 ERA
2015: 1 GS, 0-0, 0.00 ERA
Career (regular season): 3 GS, 0-2, 3.66 ERA
Loves to face: Jimmy Rollins .125 (1-for-8), 2 K's; Howie Kendrick .167 (1-for-6), K.
Hates to face: Adrian Gonzalez .273 (3-for-11), 2 HR, 5 RBI; Greinke .500 (2-for-4).
Game breakdown
Why he'll win: deGrom was dominant in Game 1 as he struck out 13 Dodgers in the victory. He'll be on five days' rest as the Mets elected not to use him as their Game 4 starter. If the Mets can get him three runs of support, as they did in Game 1, deGrom is 13-2 this sesaon -- including the postseason.
While Greinke was ahead in ERA, deGrom finished fourth in the Majors in Fielding Independent Pitching (FIP) and seventh with a 5.4 strikeout-to-walk ratio. He showed no signs of slowing down in Game 1, showing his highest four-seam fastball velocity (96.7 mph) in a start since July 21.
Pitcher beware: Before his win in Game 1, deGrom had struggled against the Dodgers and the Mets lost both of the starts he made against Los Angeles in 2014. In their Game 4 loss, the Mets had to use their bullpen for four innings, so New York will hope deGrom can go deep into the game.
His Game 1 success aside, deGrom has not been nearly as successful away from Citi Field in his career, with a 3.33 ERA (compared with 1.87 at home) and 3.34 FIP (compared with 2.02). Opponents have hit 18 of their 23 homers off him on the road and slugged about a hundred points higher, at .371.
Bottom line: It's a matchup with the best on best on the mound. deGrom got the jitters out by making his first career postseason start in Game 1 and manager Terry Collins said that deGrom is the guy he wants on the mound in an elimination game.