For the second consecutive playoff series, the Mets will open Game 1 with their ace.
Kodai Senga will start for the Mets on Sunday against the Dodgers in the NLCS opener and throw around three innings, manager Carlos Mendoza told reporters Saturday, with Sean Manaea taking the mound of Game 2 the next day before the series shifts back to Citi Field.
“From the beginning, we wanted to put our guys in what we felt was the best position to have success, right,” Mendoza said. “Considering where they’re at physically, some of the innings, who needs the extra days, who do we want to keep on their normal routine. That was the case with Senga: We wanted to keep it as close as possible to his routine.”
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Senga, who made just one start during the regular season while dealing with a right shoulder strain in spring training and then a calf strain in July, started the Mets’ Game 1 win against the Phillies in the NLDS, allowed a leadoff homer to Kyle Schwarber and then shut down the Philadelphia for two frames.
He allowed just the one run on one hit, walked one batter, struck out three and threw 31 pitches — with 18 of those for strikes.
“He was really good,” Mendoza said after Senga’s outing. “The fact that we saw 97 [mph] out of him, and then just the secondary pitches. His split was really good, the slider was good.”
If the Mets didn’t close out their NLDS series in four games, Senga would’ve been an option to throw in Game 5 — which then set him up to start the opener of the following round.
