Just Mets

The only matter that’s left to settle is who will have home field advantage in the National League Division Series.

But one other matter was settled on Tuesday night when Clayton Kershaw and the Dodgers defeated Madison Bumgarner and the Giants at AT&T Park by the score of 8-0.

Kershaw threw a complete-game, one-hit shutout to clinch the Dodgers sixth playoff appearance in the last ten years and it’s 14th division title in franchise history.

The last time these two teams met in the playoffs was in 2006 when the Mets swept the Dodgers in three games in that year’s National League Division Series.

Prior to that, the Mets and Dodgers faced each other in the 1988 National League Championship Series. The Dodgers defeated the Mets in seven games that year in what was viewed as an upset after the Mets outscored the Dodgers 49-18 en route to a 10-1 season record against Los Angeles.

The Mets will be forced to contend with Kershaw and Zack Greinke in game one and game two this year. They have 16 hits in 103 at-bats against the two Dodger aces.

But the Dodgers might have to begin their Division Series at Citi Field in 2015, as while Los Angeles trails the Mets by only a game for home field, the Mets won the season series against the Dodgers 4-3 which really gives the Mets a two game lead over the Dodgers thanks to the season record serving as the tiebreaker.

New York’s magic number to clinch home field advantage is four with five games to go in 2015.

The Dodgers and Mets will officially play in Division Series “B” whereas the winner of the Central Division and Wild Card will play in series “A.”