The National League Championship Series will begin Saturday night at Citi Field as the New York Mets play host to the Chicago Cubs, with the first pitch of Game 1 scheduled for 8:07 p.m. ET.
The Cubs topped the rival St. Louis Cardinals in four games in their division series matchup, while the Mets needed all five games to take care of the Los Angeles Dodgers, with Jacob deGrom leading the team to victory in the decisive Game 5.
The Cubs swept both regular-season meetings between the two teams, going 7-0 with a plus-16 run differential, but it's fair to say this is a completely different Mets team than the one Chicago faced in the middle of May and then again in early July.
With Yoenis Cespedes added at the deadline, Michael Conforto promoted from the minors and David Wright back healthy, the offense is now a legitimate weapon, while the four-man rotation of the Mets continues to be a serious weapon.
Meanwhile, the Cubs put on an impressive power display during the NLDS, as they homered 10 times and scored 20 runs over the final three games of the series after being shut out in Game 1.
As both teams look to set the tone for the entire season with a Game 1 victory, let's take a look at three keys to victory for both the Cubs and Mets in advance of this year's NLCS getting underway.
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