The National League Championship Series will be a blast to the past, and the Mets will be hoping that it will come with similar results.
When the Dodgers and Mets last faced off in the playoffs in 2015, the Mets pushed through in five games to clinch their ticket to the NLCS and eventually the World Series. They will be hoping this one follows a similar script.
This year's NLCS between the Dodgers and Mets will be a heavyweight battle. The Dodgers earned the top seed in the National League with an MLB-best 98 wins, while the Mets have posted the best record in baseball since June.
The Mets will be well-rested, clinching their spot with a 4-1 victory over the Phillies on Wednesday night, while the Dodgers needed five games and a 2-0 victory over the Padres on Friday to claim their spot in the championship series.
With a fun matchup ahead, here are three things to know about the Mets' NLCS opponent, the Los Angeles Dodgers:
Mets vs. Dodgers: NLCS Schedule
Game 1 : Mets at Dodgers, 8:15 p.m. Sunday, FOX/FS1
Game 2: Mets at Dodgers, 4:08 p.m. Monday, FOX/FS1
Game 3: Dodgers at Mets, 8:08 p.m. Wednesday, FOX/FS1
Game 4: Dodgers at Mets, TBD Thursday, Oct. 17, FOX/FS1
Game 5, if necessary: Dodgers at Mets, TBD Friday, Oct. 18, FOX/FS1
Game 6, if necessary: Mets at Dodgers, TBD Sunday, Oct. 20, FOX/FS1
Game 7, if necessary: Mets at Dodgers, TBD Monday, Oct. 21, FOX/FS1
Mets vs. Dodgers in the regular season
The Mets and Dodgers have not played since the teams' final full series of May.
It proved to be a turning point for the Mets, who were swept in three games at Citi Field, including a 10-3 loss in the finale on May 29 when Jorge Lopez tossed his glove into the stands following a six-run eighth inning that spelled the Mets' demise.
The rough performance, which dropped the Mets to a season-low 11 games under .500, prompted a closed-door meeting led by Francisco Lindor that proved to be a consequential moment in their season. The Mets had been held to two combined runs and seven hits in the previous two defeats in the series
Meanwhile, the highlight of the Mets' month of April was a six-game win streak which included them taking two out of three from the Dodgers in Los Angeles. It included a seventh-inning go-ahead home run from Francisco Lindor in a 9-4 win in the opener and go-ahead three-run home run from Starling Marte in a 6-4 victory the next day.
Francisco Alvarez suffered a torn thumb ligament during that series, which kept him out nearly two months.
Sho' Time: Taking on Shohei Ohtani
The only one standing in the way of Francisco Lindor winning the National League MVP this season was Shohei Ohtani and his historic offensive campaign in his first season as Dodgers designated hitter.
Ohtani finished the regular season with a .310/.390/.646 slash line, including the first 50-50 season in major league history. He blasted 54 home runs and stole 59 bases while finishing with 130 RBI and 139 runs — all National League highs.
In five games against the Mets this season, Ohtani was 6-for-20 with two home runs, six RBI, five walks and seven strikeouts.
Ohtani has had an inconsistent start in his first postseason, going 4-for-19 with one home run, four RBI, three runs and nine strikeouts.
Rough start, strong pen
In their series victory over the Padres, Dodgers starting pitchers struggled, while their bullpen was there to pick up the pieces.
In their lone starts, Walker Buehler gave up six earned runs in five innings while Jack Flaherty conceded four runs across 5⅓ innings. Yoshinobu Yamamoto, who gave up five earned runs in three innings in Game 1, atoned for that performance with five scoreless innings in the series-clinching Game 5.
Anthony Banda, Michael Kopech, Evan Phillips, Blake Treinen and Alex Vesia each threw at least 2⅔ scoreless innings in the Dodgers' series win. There is some concern over Vesia, who exited Friday night's Game 5 victory with an apparent injury.
This article originally appeared on NorthJersey.com: Shohei Ohtani and LA Dodgers: 3 things to know about NY Mets' NLCS opponent
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