The Mets’ prospects did not look promising. The Dodgers started Clayton Kershaw, who is the arch deacon of National League pitchers. Zack Greinke will follow Saturday evening. Together they form the most fearsome pitching duo in the league.

The Mets’ young arms are formidable; their pitchers throw with microwave-dialed-high intensity. But Kershaw had been near unhittable of late. His style is sui generis. He stares samurai style into space somewhere over first base. Then he stretches his arms high over his head, like a cat in full stretch, and turns to the plate and unfolds a halting delivery. He has perhaps eight pitches, which arrive at speeds of between 97 and 74 miles per hour.

If you sit on his fastball, Kershaw’s changeup or sweeping curve can all but pull your shoulders out of sockets.

The Mets’ center fielder, Yoenis Cespedes, looking fashionable in his lime-green hitting sleeve, settled into the batter’s box in the first inning. Kershaw gave him a 96 m.p.h. hello. Two more strikes followed and Cespedes took a seat back in the dugout.

In his home stadium and throwing well, Kershaw should have been the story of the night.

But deGrom offered his own flip of that script. Friday’s matchup played as The Kid against the Ace; in fact, deGrom, 27, is just three months younger than Kershaw. His path to the majors had been as winding and tangled as Kershaw’s was straightforward.