After a hard-fought regular season between the Los Angeles Dodgers and San Francisco Giants for the National League West title, the two teams will face off in a NL Division Series matchup for the right to move on to the Championship Series against the Atlanta Braves or Milwaukee Brewers.
While the Giants were able to win the NL West, the two teams were about as even as you can get. San Francisco led baseball with 107 wins, and L.A. tied a franchise record at 106. Against each other, the Giants had the edge, winning 10 of 19 games, but they were outscored by the Dodgers 80-78 in those contests.
Despite the two teams being rivals since their creation in 1883 and moving from New York to California in the same year, they have never faced each other in the postseason until now.
The Dodgers are coming off a Wild Card Game win against the St. Louis Cardinals thanks to late-inning heroics from Chris Taylor, who hit a walk-off two-run home run.
The Giants hold home-field advantage throughout the playoffs as they led MLB in wins, so the Dodgers will have to play Games 1 and 3, and a potential Game 5 at Oracle Park.
Walker Buehler, who has established himself as one of MLB’s best big-game pitchers, will starts the opener. This season he threw 207.2 innings with a 2.47 ERA and 3.15 FIP while striking out 26% of hitters and walking 6.4%.
The 27-year-old right-hander made six starts against the Giants this season and pitched to a 2.19 ERA in 37 innings, which is inflated by his final start when he allowed six runs in just three innings against them.
This will be his fourth season pitching in the postseason, and in his previous 11 starts, Buehler has posted a 2.35 ERA in 61.1 innings.
Against righties, the Giants hit .250/.328/.447 with a 110 wRC+ and 177 homers.
Logan Webb takes the ball for the Giants. He, like many others on the team, had a breakout season, pitching to a 3.03 ERA and 2.72 FIP in 148.1 innings while striking out 26.5% of hitters and walking 6%.
Webb faced the Dodgers three times this year and threw 16 innings while posting an ERA of 2.25.
The 24-year-old right-hander has never started a postseason game in his career.
Against righties, the Dodgers hit .245/.334/.425 with a 107 wRC+ and 158 homers.
The Dodgers and Giants had the two top offenses during the regular season, with San Francisco just taking a slight edge over L.A.
The Giants hit .249/.329/.440 with 241 home runs and a 108 wRC+ while the Dodgers hit .244/.330/.429 with 237 home runs and a 106 wRC+.
However, both teams will be without their starting first baseman as Brandon Belt suffered a fractured left thumb and Max Muncy dislocated his left elbow.
Dodgers lineup
RF: Mookie Betts
SS: Corey Seager
2B: Trea Turner
3B: Justin Turner
C: Will Smith
1B: Matt Beaty
CF: Cody Bellinger
LF: AJ Pollock
P: Walker Buehler
Giants lineup
2B: Tommy LaStella
1B: Wilmer Flores
SS: Brandon Crawford
C: Buster Posey
RF: LaMonte Wade Jr.
LF: Kris Bryant
CF: Mike Yastrzemski
3B: Evan Longoria
P: Logan Webb
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