Why the Mets now have the upper hand vs. the Dodgers in the NLCS, per John Smoltz

As the National League Championship Series shifts to New York, so does MLB on FOX analyst John Smoltz, who'll be in Queens to continue covering an even series between the Dodgers and Mets.

Before Game 3, the Hall of Fame pitcher shared his thoughts on a Dodgers Game 2 bullpen game that unraveled on them, what makes Sean Manaea and Game 3 starter Luis Severino so productive this year, whether he'd move Shohei Ohtani out of the leadoff spot, if he thinks certain players are built specifically for October, what's impressed him most through two games and more.

Kavner: Through two games, who do you think has the upper hand right now between the Dodgers and the Mets? 

Smoltz: The advantage, for sure, goes to the Mets and the starting pitching. That's kind of an obvious, just because of what the Dodgers don't have. But it all comes down to, this series and the past series, especially with the Dodgers, a lot of it has been determined through four innings. And if you think about baseball being played in the regular season, that was never the case. You would be a little more patient. I think the Dodgers are in a position now to really use leverage guys if they are up early, and they won't wait around to get anybody in trouble. 

Now, what happened in Game 2 was not the protocol they were hoping for. But you think about what both teams did, it wasn't really a typical starter for either team. Game 1 for the Mets, you could say they used a starter, but he wasn't going to go more than two or three innings. He didn't have it. The game got out of hand. For the Dodgers, I think the fact that the way they were going to have to use their bullpen, if the score was different, maybe they use higher leverage guys in situations that they