The Los Angeles Dodgers are expected to be at or near the top of the National League on a yearly basis, since they have one of the highest payrolls in the history of baseball. But the New York Mets came from a place not many people were counting on to win the NL East title. These teams are ready to meet up in Game 1 of the NLDS (National League Divisional Series), which is scheduled for 9:45 at Dodger Stadium. BetAnySports customers have the opportunity to place wagers on this game while it is in progress, and it indeed gets very excited when it comes to Live Betting Extra.

These teams did not leave much in doubt in September, as they won their respective divisions by comfortable margins. But they were battling it out down the stretch to see who was going to get home field advantage in the playoff series, which is a best-of-five affair. And the Dodgers, with 92 wins, beat the Mets out by two games.

This is a true marquee pitching matchup, as right-hander Jacob deGrom (14-8, 2.54 ERA) takes the mound for the Mets against Clayton Kershaw (16-7, 2.13 ERA), the three-time Cy Young Award winner and premier southpaw for the Dodgers.

In the baseball playoff betting odds that have been posted on this game by the folks at BetAnySports, the Dodgers are considerable favorites:

Los Angeles Dodgers (Kershaw) -200
New York Mets (deGrom) +185

Over 5.5 Runs -115
Under 5.5 Runs -105

Kershaw led the league in strikeouts and innings pitched, and he has a 2.43 ERA, but baseball bettors are familiar with the struggles he has gone through in the post-season. As a matter of fact, he only has one playoff win, coming two years ago against Atlanta in the NLDS, and overall he is just 1-5 with a 5.12 ERA and 1.24 WHIP ratio. So don't think he doesn't believe he has something extra to prove, despite the likelihood that this will be the fifth straight season where he will be in the top three in the Cy Young voting. He says to reporters, "I don't know if you can get wiser from failing all the time. I know what that feels like."

It looks once again like he has a golden opportunity. Kershaw went 11-3 at home this year with a 1.67 ERA, and opponents had just a .265 slugging average against him at Chavez Ravine. And he certainly didn't tail off late in the season; in fact, he got hotter, with an 11-1 record and 1.29 ERA after July 1.

The Mets (+460 to win the National League pennant at BetAnySports), interestingly enough, were a better offensive team on the road than they were at home, and by a relatively wide margin. Their batting average was 22 points higher (.255 to .233) and they scored 57 more runs. Perhaps more significantly, they hit .257 with 102 homers and 373 runs after the All-Star break (73 games) as opposed to .233 with 75 homers and 310 runs beforehand (89 games).

Of course, there was an infusion of new blood that turned a team that was moribund on offense into a dangerous club with wood in their hands. David Wright came back after a very difficult back condition, and rookie Michael Conforto provides some spark in the outfield, but the biggest catalyst, by far, was Yeonis Cespedes, who came in a trade with Detroit and hit 17 homers with 44 RBI's in just 57 games with the Mets.

They could give Kershaw all he can handle.

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