8 of them.I feel like stats can be portrayed any way peopl

Go inside the numbers and matchups that will decide the showdown Tuesday night between the Cubs and Dodgers in Game 3 of the NLCS, and then vote for which team will win at the bottom of the page.What we learned in Game 2Clayton Kershaw allowed two hits in seven shutout innings and Kenley Jansen mowed through the final six batters as Adrian Gonzalezs second-inning home run off Kyle Hendricks held up in a 1-0 victory.?-- David SchoenfieldInside the pitching matchupWhen Jake Arrieta is on the mound: There arent too many pitchers who go 18-8 with a 3.10 ERA and we feel like it was a bit of letdown. Arrieta had a 1.74 ERA through June 22, dominating like he did in 2015, but he had control/command issues after that and posted a 4.44 ERA over his final 16 starts with 41 walks in 99? innings. Against the Giants in the division series, he allowed six hits and two runs over six innings, but walked just one batter with five strikeouts.Arrieta mentioned during an in-game interview the other night that he had sort of lost the feel for his cutter (or slider) midseason, but feels like he has it back and has regained the confidence to throw it at any time. Lets see what the numbers say:April: .037 average, 30 percent strikeout rateMay: .286, 12.8 percentJune: .176, 45 percentJuly: .429, 12 percentAugust: .286, 18.8 percentSeptember: .143, 12 percentIndeed, after throwing it 113 times in April and 125 times in May, he threw the cutter/slider just 51 times in August before ramping back up to 81 in September. Against the Giants he threw it 29 times, his most in one game since May. The Giants, like the Dodgers, have a lot of left-handed batters, so look for Arrieta to make that a key part of his arsenal once again.Otherwise, Arrietas fastball is still a tough pitch, averaging 93.8 mph with some late sink to it. Against left-handers, he tends to work the outer third of the strike zone with the fastball and he also works up and down the zone. Hell mix in his curveball as well. Even when he was struggling with walks, Arrieta did a good job limiting hard contact.??-- SchoenfieldWhen Rich Hill is on the mound: When he wasnt sidelined by blisters, Hill was one of the best starters in baseball in 2016, going 12-5 with a 2.12 ERA between the As and Dodgers, holding batters to a .195 average. On the surface, his repertoire seems pretty basic: A fastball from 88 to 91 mph and a big-breaking curveball. He throws both up in the strike zone -- 70 percent of his fastballs are in the upper half compared to the MLB average of 50 percent.What makes him so difficult to hit is the deception in his delivery. Both pitches are delivered on the same axis, what pitchers call mirroring. His curveball will also have different speeds and arcs to it. His fastball generates extreme spin, leading to fly balls and pop-ups. And just to throw a wrinkle into everything, he occasionally drops down and throws sidearm. Add it up and its a delivery and repertoire batters just dont see.He started Game 5 of the Division Series and Dave Roberts had a quick hook, pulling him after 2 2/3 innings even though six of the eight outs had come via the strikeout. Hed allowed three hits but none were hit that hard. Hes back on four days of rest, but Roberts will have a rested bullpen after the day off. -- SchoenfieldPlayer in the spotlightDexter Fowler. The Cubs are hitting .193 in the postseason with several regulars hitting below .200. Anthony Rizzo (1-for-23) and Addison Russell (1-for-22) are most notable, but we mentioned Rizzo here in the Game 2 preview. One reason the Cubs offense worked so well this year was Fowler getting on base in the leadoff spot. Hes just 4-for-24 (.167) with a .231 OBP in six games.?-- SchoenfieldDid you know ...In his NLDS Game 3 start, Arrieta threw 10 pitches that were taken, none of which were called a strike. That is the second time this season that batters took at least 10 of his pitches without a called strike; the first was Aug. 18 vs. the Brewers. ?-- ESPN Stats & InfoWhat will decide the game Tuesday nightArrietas heat. Arrieta limited opponents to a .198 batting against his fastball during the regular season, the best mark by any NL pitcher. The Dodgers were 1-15 in at-bats ending with a fastball when they faced Arrieta on May 31. However, Arrieta will be up against two of the better fastball hitters in the league in Corey Seager and González, who combined for the Dodgers only two hits in seven innings against Arrieta back in May. Los Angeles has a .824 OPS against fastballs this postseason and a .507 OPS against off-speed pitches. ?-- ESPN Stats & InfoChoosing sides: Who will win??The Cubs have been striking the ball well and that includes Game 2, when they had nothing to show for a few well-hit balls off of Kershaw. Its been a playoff-long slog for the offense but I like their chances against Hill. Arrieta will have to command his secondary pitches against all those L.A. lefties, but I expect him to be sharp. At this point, the hitters are due, and its awfully hard to beat the Cubs in back-to-back games. Im going with Chicago in Game 3. -- Brad Doolittle?This is bound to be another low scoring affair and Jake Arrietas history in this park will come into play. He simply likes everything about pitching at Dodger stadium. Joe Maddon will make small lineup changes which will benefit in a big way as the Cubs squeak by in Game 3. -- Jesse Rogers?You know that narrative about the Dodgers being extremely bad against left-handed pitching? The Cubs have been worse this postseason and up next is another lefty in Hill. They are fortunate, though, to have Jake Arrieta?pitching in Dodger Stadium, a venue that agrees with him. The Cubs figure to take Game 3 in what is developing into a back-and-forth affair. -- Doug PadillaWhere the series standsWere tied up and the Dodgers head home, where they were 53-28. They had a 2.97 ERA at Dodger Stadium and beat the Cubs two out of three here in late August. The Cubs will start John Lackey in Game 4 while the Dodgers remain undecided. That start may depend on whether Julio Urias is used in relief in Game 3.-- Schoenfield Nomar Garciaparra Red Sox Jersey . Blackwood, 28, has played the last three seasons in the San Diego Padres system, including the past two summers with Class AA San Antonio of the Texas League. Carlton Fisk Red Sox Jersey . Louis Rams wide receiver Stedman Bailey last Sunday. The fine is the fourth this season for Goldson. He was fined $30,000 for a hit on the New York Jets Jeff Cumberland in Week 1. https://www.cheapredsox.com/261z-christian-vazquez-jersey-red-sox.html . Only three players drafted by NHL clubs were included on the Czech selection camp roster on Wednesday. Those players were Dallas Stars 2012 first-rounder Radek Faksa, Winnipeg Jets 2013 fourth-rounder Jan Kostalek and Phoenix Coyotes 2012 seventh-rounder Marek Langhamer. Rod Beck Jersey . What general manager Dave Nonis called "short and productive" negotiations ended with Kessel signing a US$64-million, eight-year contract on Tuesday. Sam Travis Jersey . With Parker having a quiet game for once, Nicolas Batum and Boris Diaw provided the scoring as France won its first major basketball title by beating Lithuania 80-66 on Sunday. It was a victory that ended a decade of frustration for Parker and a talented French generation, which lost the final against Spain two years ago and took bronze in 2005. TALLAHASSEE, Fla. -- No. 12 Florida State has had dominating stretches of defense in wins over No. 16 Mississippi and South Florida.But the Seminoles have been defined more in the first four games by their lack of consistency and points allowed.Florida State (3-1, 0-1 Atlantic Coast Conference) has allowed 30 or more points in three games after being the only team in the country last season to not allow 25 or more in a regular-season game.Going into Saturdays game against North Carolina, the Seminoles are allowing 35 points per game. That puts them 108th out of 128 Football Bowl Subdivision teams in scoring defense.Coach Jimbo Fisher was happy with the units improvement in last Saturdays 55-35 win over South Florida.But with the next seven games in conference, including two against ranked opponents, Fisher needs his group to mature fast.Its really on us to make those plays, cornerback Marquez White said. You can go back and look at the film and see guys loafing or missing tackles or busting coverages, letting guys run free.When USFs Quinton Flowers connected with Rodney Adams on an 84-yard touchdown pass on the games first play, Fisher said cornerback Tavarus McFadden was in position and didnt make a play on the ball.McFadden leads the ACC in interceptions with three and is tied for third in passes defensed with five. But he has also given up his share of big passes.Theyre going to throw at him every game, White said. Hes getting better every week. Hes becoming more confident. Hes grown up a lot.Florida State has also allowed 14 plays of 30 yards or more, which is tied for third most in the country. No. 21 TCU (12) and top-ranked Alabama (10) are the only other ranked teams that have allowed 10 or more.The Seminoles have come out of the gates slowly and have trailed in all three games against FBS teams.In 11 first-quarter drives by No. 16 Mississippi, No. 3 Louisville and South Florida, the Seminnoles have allowed five touchdowns with three coming on the first drive.ddddddddddddSafety Marcus Lewis is hoping that last Saturdays stretch against USF, where Florida State forced eight three-and-outs in nine drives, carries over to the rest of the season.When we got those nine straight stops, everybody just did their job. Its that simple. We just feed off each other. Somebody makes play, next play somebody else makes a play, he said. Our biggest thing is winning first down. We win first down, thats huge for us.Florida State is among the national leaders in forcing 16 three-and-out series against FBS teams. A concern is on the 23 series where it has allowed a first down, the opponent has scored a touchdown on 18 of them.I feel like stats can be portrayed any way people want to make them, White said. But a lot of the plays, the big plays thats been given up, the plays are there. We just have to make the tackle, make those plays.While North Carolinas Mitch Trubisky is not a dual-threat quarterback and is the first conventional drop-back passer FSU has faced this season, he might be the most accurate they have faced. He is second in the conference in passing efficiency and tied for third in touchdowns with 10.After dropping their opener against Georgia, the Tar Heels have won three straight and are 1-0 in conference play.North Carolina coach Larry Fedora said the Seminoles run a similar defensive scheme to what they saw in the opener.After knowing what worked and what didnt in the Georgia game that will help us in our game plan, he said. They do have a lot of big guys that can run.---Online: The APs college football page: http://collegfootball.ap.org---Follow Joe on Twitter: www.twitter.com/joereedy and his work can be found at http://bigstory.ap.org/journalist/joe-reedy ' ' '