In the first two games of the National League Championship Series, the New York Mets put the Chicago Cubs in a 2-0 hole behind lights-out pitching from Matt Harvey and Noah Syndergaard. Daniel Murphy led the charge at the plate, and the Mets now head to Chicago two wins from the World Series.
For Back to the Future Part II screenwriter Bob Gale to be made into a prophet, the Cubs have work to do. The mountain is made a more tumultuous climb by Mets ace Jacob deGrom, who will be on the bump for Game 3 and facing off against Kyle Hendricks.
In his two starts in the National League Division Series, deGrom was 2-0 with a 1.38 ERA and 20 strikeouts. He has been the Mets' best pitcher all year, so they have to feel confident giving him the ball with a chance to put a stranglehold on the series.
If you're looking to watch the game on TV on Tuesday night, it starts at 8:07 p.m. ET and will broadcast on TBS. Don't have cable? Fret not—you can stream the game at TBS.com.
And if you're in Chicago with some money to spare and are looking to catch the game, ScoreBig.com has you covered.
With a dominant pitcher on the hill, it would be easy to pick the Mets to roll the Cubs again. But Jorge L. Ortiz of USA Today said not so fast.
As Ortiz noted, deGrom faced the Cubs twice this year, and twice he ended up with the loss. The Cubs hit three home runs, scored a total of eight runs and left deGrom and his flowing locks with a 6.10 ERA.
But those starts (the last one coming July 2) seem light years away. We've already mentioned deGrom's playoff numbers, but manager Terry Collins also told Ortiz about deGrom's coolness in the hottest of playoff moments, especially in Game 5 against the Los Angeles Dodgers.
"It was unbelievable how many times he was one pitch away from coming out of that game and he made the pitch he had to make, and that tells you exactly the kind of kid he is," Collins said. "His competition level is, without question, as good as anybody’s."
Besides their past success against deGrom, the Cubs also have their home field and the weather working in their favor. While it looked positively frigid at Citi Field, Ortiz said it is expected to be in the mid-60s by the time they are ready to play ball.
As Cubs manager Joe Maddon told Ortiz, "The guys will feel their hands a little bit better. It should work out somewhat better for us offensively."
It can't get much worse at the dish for the Cubs, who are hitting .189 as a team in the NLCS. Still, the Mets will also have warmer hands they can use to swing their already hotter bats, so we'll back the Mets and their pitching advantage in Game 3. Mets 5, Cubs 3.
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