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Severino allowed eight hits, walked two and struck out three. He was steady and hung around in the game long enough for the Mets’ offense to breakout with a five-run fifth inning. Severino would likely start again for the Mets should they advance to the Division series before heading into free agency this offseason.

Schwarber obliterated a Kodai Senga offering to begin the game for the Phillies, and it puts him fourth all-time in postseason homers with 21. It would be the last run of the game Philadelphia would score until a meaningless RBI double from Kody Clemens with two outs in the ninth. Schwarber will hit at the top of the lineup again in Game 2 against Luis Severino on Sunday.

Vientos came up huge with an RBI single off Jeff Hoffman in the eighth inning to tie the game at 1-1. The 24-year-old hasn’t shown much power in the first four games of the postseason with no extra-base hits, but he has been able to hit .313 in that timeframe.

Nimmo slashed a pitch left down the middle of the plate from a surprisingly ineffective Matt Strahm the opposite way to give the Mets a 2-1 lead. His RBI single in the ninth extended that lead to 6-1. Nimmo is now 5-for-16 in the postseason, and he’s driven in three runs over four games.

Sensational. The only issue for Wheeler was control, as he walked four and hit another. To say those free passes didn’t affect him is quite the understatement, and he generated 30 swings-and-misses in this contest. It’s no surprise to see Wheeler dominant, but it doesn’t make this any less impressive. He likely will be back for either Game 5 of the NLDS — possibly Game 4 if it’s a must-win — or Game 1 of the NLCS if possible.

Senga faced eight hitters and struck out three with one walk. He also allowed just one hit, but it was a long leadoff homer to Kyle Schwarber. Still, outside of that Senga looked solid in his return to the mound, and it’s a reminder of how good the 31-year-old was in his rookie campaign last year. He could be back on the mound later in this series, but no guarantees at this point.

Blackburn is currently dealing with a spinal fluid leak, and has been ruled out for the rest of the 2024 season. That move clears room on the 40-man roster for Kodai Senga, who started Game 1 for the Mets on Saturday against the Phillies.

The Dodgers had Freeman go through multiple workouts to make sure Freeman was good to go, and he passed enough tests to get the start after missing the end of the year with his ankle sprain. The full lineup for the Dodgers against Dylan Cease: DH Shohei Ohtani, RF Mookie Betts, 1B Freeman, LF Teoscar Hernandez, 3B Max Muncy, C Will Smith, 2B Gavin Lux, Tommy Edman CF and Miguel Rojas at shortstop behind starter Yoshinobu Yamamoto.

The Padres aren’t making any changes to their regular lineup in the pivotal Game 1 matchup against Yoshinobu Yamamoto and the Dodgers. The full lineup behind Dylan Cease for the Padres: DH Luis Arraez, RF Tatis Jr., LF Jurickson Profar, 3B Manny Machado, CF Jackson Merrill, SS Xander Bogaerts, 2B Jake Cronenworth, 1B Donovan Solano and Kyle Higashioka hitting ninth and catching.

“Where he’s at right now, physically, the foot, the toe, just is not cooperating,” Roberts said. “It’s actually getting worse. Yeah, this is it for Clayton for 2024.’' Kershaw was limited to just seven starts and 30 innings because of injuries, and he forged a 4.50 ERA and 24/9 K/BB in his seven starts. He should be back in 2025, but there’s more risk than reward in the future Hall of Famer’s profile.

Rojas has a torn adductor muscle and he’ll need surgery in the offseason, but he’ll be able to play through it through the postseason.