LOS ANGELES -- Michael Wacha is not very adept at housekeeping. Other than that, his former roommate, Ross Stripling, found it hard to identify weaknesses.

The St. Louis Cardinals' Wacha and the Los Angeles Dodgers' Stripling, who once bunked together in an apartment at Texas A&M, are set to pitch against each other Friday in the opener of a three-game series at Dodger Stadium.

"You have to enjoy it while it's going on and cherish this first time that we pitch against each other," Dodgers righty Ross Stripling said of pitching opposite college housemate Michael Wacha, now with the Cardinals. Gary A. Vasquez/USA TODAY Sports

The trash talk began in earnest this week. The silent treatment is now starting. Friendships will be renewed once Friday’s final out is recorded.

“It was probably something we talked about in college,” Stripling said. “I don’t remember a specific time talking about it, but it was like, ‘Can you imagine if we get drafted and pitch against each other in the big leagues?’ And now it’s going to happen, which is pretty crazy.”

Stripling, who was actually one year ahead of Wacha at Texas A&M, will be making just his seventh career start. Wacha burst upon the scene with the Cardinals in 2013 and was an All-Star last season. Both were drafted in 2012.

“It’s funny, because when we first signed, it was a competition like, ‘Who’s going to get there first?’” Stripling said. “Yeah, he was a first-rounder, then he just shot up and blew everybody away. He came in kind of like a slender 185 pounds throwing 85 mph, and as he filled out and got in the weight room just started throwing harder and harder, and you knew he was going to be special.”

Stripling has a challenge ahead of him if he wants to get the better of his buddy, but he is coming off a six-inning outing at Toronto over the weekend in which he gave up just one hit. He also has that no-hit effort at San Francisco in his debut, when he was pulled with one out in the eighth inning.

Wacha watched the end of that one, tipped off by his father, who was so superstitious that he refused to tell his son what was happening.

“I asked him how he was doing and he said, ‘Uh, I can’t say anything, but it’s looking good,’" Wacha told ESPN.com’s Mark Saxon last month. “I was like, ‘Well, there’s an indication right there.’"

The no-hitter never happened, as the Dodgers' bullpen blew the lead and the Giants won the game. Wacha certainly will root for his pal to finish off a no-hitter one day. He will not root for it Friday.

So what do trash-talking friends discuss when they are about to face each other?

“Nothing crossing the line by any means,” Stripling said. “It was literally who was going to hit better off each other and who will buy what if somebody pitches better or gets a hit or whatever. Both of our girlfriends are in town, so we’ll go out, probably get some dinner, drinks afterward, and whoever beats the other will probably have to pay for it. Nothing crazy.”

Yet even the most expensive dinner has a limit. Pride is really what’s at stake here.

Stripling admitted it will be hard to take his eyes off his friend’s performance.

“I think you have to enjoy it,” Stripling said. “How often do you get to pitch against your college roommate and teammate? I’ll definitely watch him and I will be cheering for our guys. I want it to be a good game. I’ll do my normal thing, do my normal routine, which is watch the game, typically, and do my own thing between innings.

“You have to enjoy it while it’s going on and cherish this first time that we pitch against each other. Hopefully there’s more, but you never know.”