This is the first time the Chicago Cubs and New York Mets have competed in the same postseason. Now they're battling for a spot in the World Series as Game 1 of the NLCS starts tonight at 8:07 p.m. ET in New York.
Scroll to the bottom for the live stream and radio broadcast for the NLCS.
Who could ask for a better pitching matchup to kick off this championship series?
Jon Lester (11-12, 3.34 ERA) will be the man for the Cubs and Matt Harvey (13-8, 2.71 ERA) will take the ball for the Mets. Lester was handed a loss in Game 1 of the NLDS against the St. Louis Cardinals while Matt Harvey and the Mets destroyed the Los Angeles Dodgers 13-7 in Game 3 of the NLDS.
Lester still had a solid outing against St. Louis and allowed three earned runs on five hits and a walk over 7 1/3 innings. He struck out nine, and two of those runs were given up when the Cardinals finally got to him in the eighth inning.
Overall, the left-hander has been stellar in the postseason throughout his career. He's 6-5 with a 2.66 ERA, 1.05 WHIP and 82 strikeouts in 15 games (13 starts) with the Red Sox, Athletics and Cubs.
Additionally, Lester dominated the Mets in 2015 and went 1-0 with a 2.08 ERA, 1.15 WHIP and 14 strikeouts in two starts (13 innings). The Cubs were 7-0 against the Mets this year.
On the other hand, Harvey made his MLB postseason debut earlier in the week against the Dodgers. He surrendered three runs (two earned) on seven hits and two walks in just five innings. However, he struck out seven and got the win after the Mets' offense stole the show and scored 10 runs in the first four innings.
New York also has a completely different club since Lester and the Cubs faced them earlier in the season. The Mets now have David Wright and Travis d'Arnaud (who were injured) back in the lineup and added Yoenis Cespedes and others in trades - all of which helped them lead the NL in runs scored during the second half. They also promoted rookies Michael Conforto and Steven Matz, both of whom have made an enormous impact at the MLB level.
Harvey also shut down the Cubs earlier this year and pitched seven scoreless innings, but Chicago scored two runs in the eighth off reliever Carlos Torres and stole the 2-1 victory.
But again, that was a much different Cubs team.
That was before Kyle Schwarber was promoted to the big leagues and Addison Russell took over as the team's starting shortstop. It was also before the Cubs erupted for a 50-25 record in the second half of the season with the help of Jake Arrieta's dominance over that span (12-1 with a 0.75 ERA and 0.73 WHIP in 15 starts).
Tonight we will see two totally different teams than we did during the first half of the season.
Keep an eye for both clubs to take advantage of tonight's pitching matchups. The Mets' right-handed hitters have 34 home runs, 94 RBIs and a .763 OPS against left-handed pitchers while the Cubs' left-handed hitters have 18 home runs, 83 RBIs and a .772 OPS against right-handed pitchers.
Click here for the lineups.
Check out the live stream for the NLCS here as well as the radio broadcast here (NYM) or here (CHC).
