The Washington Nationals and Los Angeles Dodgers with throw out a pair of Cy Young Award winners in Game 1, but who else will toe the rubber in this NLDS clash?
The NLDS showdown between the Washington Nationals (95-67) and Los Angeles Dodgers (91-71) will feature two of the best pitching rotations in baseball, albeit missing some noteworthy names.
The Nationals posted the second best team ERA in baseball (3.51) this season, but the Dodgers were not too far off in fifth place (3.70). The teams, loaded with flame-throwing arms in the rotation and pen, finished top two in total strikeouts this season.
In Game 1, we get the dream pitcher’s duel of Clayton Kershaw (12-4, 1.69 ERA) and Max Scherzer (20-7, 2.96 ERA).
Kershaw, a three-time Cy Young Award winner, missed more than two months with a back injury this year, but still looked dominant all season, including a win against the Nationals in June (seven innings, six hits, one run, eight strikeouts).
Scherzer, who is looking to add his second Cy Young this season, did not face the Dodgers this season.
In Game 2, the Nationals will try to shut down the Dodgers’ lefty-heavy lineup with southpaw Gio Gonzalez (11-11, 4.57 ERA). Los Angeles was historically bad against lefties this season, posting a league-low .213 average. Gonzalez will face Rich Hill (3-2, 1.83 ERA with Dodgers), one of three lefties in the Dodgers’ postseason rotation, who has pitched great since an August trade despite missing some time with a blister injury.
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The Nationals haven’t been forthcoming yet on how their rotation will setup when the series shifts to Dodger Stadium on Monday. Tanner Roark (16-10, 2.83 ERA) is the most likely to pitch in Game 3 and would face Dodgers rookie Kenta Maeda (16-11, 3.48 ERA).
After that, Nationals youngster Joe Ross (7-5, 3.43 ERA) could face another Dodgers rookie in Julio Urias (5-2, 3.39 ERA) in Game 4 on Tuesday, but either team is liable to pull out their trump card and start Kershaw or Scherzer on short rest if the series depended it.
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No matter how the rotations shake out, this will be a series with great pitching on both sides of the matchup.