Heading into the 2018 season, the Los Angeles Dodgers and Washington Nationals were named among the favorites to win the National League pennant and reach the World Series. But thus far, neither team has met those lofty expectations.
Both enter Friday’s series opener at Dodger Stadium one game below .500. The Dodgers are on a four-game winning streak, while the Nationals are winners in three of their past five.
Unlike the Dodgers who struggled out of the gate, the Nationals opened the season by winning four consecutive games, only to lose the next five.
The matchup at Dodger Stadium begins in electric fashion, as Clayton Kershaw and Max Scherzer duel for only the third time in their careers. It’s the 13th time (10th in regular season) that three-time Cy Young Award winners start opposite one another.
And though the teams haven’t yet played to their standards, Dodgers manager Dave Roberts believes the environment for the weekend series will be akin to what’s seen in the postseason, via MLB Network Radio:
“I think you look at two very talented ballclubs that aren’t playing to their capabilities as far as win-loss, but I can see, and you hear it from players on both ballclubs, there’s no panic. It’s just guys going out there playing the right way and understanding it’s a long season but there is a sense of urgency each night. Something like this, sometimes a series like this, albeit still in April, really gets the juices going and the intensity. I think it’s going to be a playoff atmosphere all weekend.”
The Nationals were one of the few opponents who had success against the Dodgers last June. If not for Kershaw outdueling Stephen Strasburg in a 2-1 victory, Los Angeles would’ve been swept in the three games at Dodger Stadium.
As it was, the Nationals winning two of three was the only series the Dodgers lost from June 2-Aug. 27, when the Milwaukee Brewers took two games at Dodger Stadium.
