Kershaw, Mets-Nats lead slate on MLB.TV

As we pass the quarter pole of the 2016 season, the division races across the Major Leagues are beginning to take shape.

A pair of contenders have a chance to overtake their division leaders this week, and hope Monday’s games help them take the first step. Meanwhile a handful of National League aces will be in action as part of a 12-game slate — all of which will be available on MLB.TV.

MLB.TV Premium returns with the same features as last year, but at $109.99, it is a full 20 bucks cheaper than the 2015 cost. This package has the best value and provides access to more than 400 devices and a free subscription to the MLB.com At Bat Premium app (a $19.99 value). It offers the best picture quality ever — a new 60 frames per second — for supported devices. Monthly signups for MLB.TV Premium are now underway as well for $24.99.

The new MLB.TV Single Team package is also now available as an $84.99 yearly subscription. You can watch a single team’s live out-of-market games in full HD.

Here is a look at what to watch for Monday in the Majors (all times ET):

Kershaw tries to extend his own record: CIN@LAD, 10:10 p.m.

All-world pitcher Clayton Kershaw will try to extend his record streak of six straight starts with at least 10 strikeouts and one or zero walks against a Reds club that has walked just 104 times this season — the lowest total in the National League. As the ace of the staff, it will be up to Kershaw to stop a recent spell in which L.A. has lost seven of their last eight. Not surprisingly, Dodgers Manager Dave Roberts has full confidence in his team’s leader.

“Adjectives, superlatives — there are none,” Roberts said of Kershaw after his last start, in which the southpaw allowed just one run over eight innings to pick up a Freeway Series win against the Angels on Tuesday. “He’s consistent, and he’s consistently great.”

Cincinnati’s recent struggles have been just as tough, as the Reds have dropped 10 of their last 11 contests coming into their first matchup against the Dodgers. Joey Votto, batting .205 for the season, has just four hits in his last 35 at-bats.

Stat that matters: Kershaw’s average workload over the past three seasons is 222 1/3 innings per year. If Kershaw were to accumulate that average number of innings this season, he would be on pace to record 280 strikeouts and just 13 walks. Of the starting pitchers who have accumulated at least 275 strikeouts in a season since 1900, the lowest single-season walk total among them was Pedro Martinez’s 32 walks in 2000 — a full 19 more than Kershaw’s projected total at this point.

NL East rivals lock horns again: NYM@WSH, 7:05 p.m.

It was a topsy-turvy homestand for the Amazin’s. It began with concerns over Matt Harvey and Bartolo Colon, as New York dropped two-of-three to division-leading Washington. It ended with a sweep of the Brewers that included a walk-off by David Wright and a dominant start from Noah Syndergaard. Now the Mets are just 1 1/2 games back in the National League East standings and get …

continue reading in source mlb.mlb.com