Friday night, Logan Webb will take the Oracle Park mound and throw out the first pitch of San Francisco’s 2021 postseason.
It’s the first time since 2016 the Giants are playing in the playoffs, and they face off against the Dodgers, in a matchup that feels like fate. Chris Taylor’s walk-off home run put the Dodgers over the Cardinals in an intense NL Wild Card Game.
Here’s what you need to know about the five-game series:
The Schedule
Game 1: Friday, Oct. 8 at Oracle Park (6:37 PT)
Game 2: Saturday, Oct. 9 at Oracle Park (6:07 PT)
Game 3: Monday, Oct. 11 at Dodger Stadium (TBD)
Game 4 (if applicable): Tuesday, Oct. 12 at Dodgers Stadium (TBD)
Game 5 (if applicable): Thursday, Oct. 14 at Oracle Park (TBD)
All games will be broadcast on TBS and on KNBR
At a Glance
The Crew
For the opener, Carlos Torres will be calling balls and strikes. Ted Barrett will start at second and serve as the crew chief. Controversial ump Angel Hernandez will start at first base and is scheduled for home plate in Game 2. Pat Hoberg, Doug Eddings and Gabe Morales round out the crew. Each official has worked in the playoffs before, with seven combined World Series assignments to their name.
Betting Line
The Dodgers are -144 favorites to win the series, via Fanduel.
Season series
Giants won, 10-9.
In the 19th meeting, which decided who earned home field advantage in a hypothetical Game 163 tiebreaker, the Giants defeated Cy Young candidate Walker Buehler with a second consecutive bullpen game.
Playoff History
The Giants and Dodgers have never officially met in the playoffs since moving to the West Coast.
In 1951, Bobby Thomson’s “Shot Heard ‘Round the World” sent the New York Giants to the World Series by beating the Brooklyn Dodgers in the finale of a three-game playoff. The Giants also edged the Dodgers in a three-game tiebreaker series in 1962, with the decisive game also played on Oct. 3 — the same date as Thomson’s walk-off homer.
Those games counted toward regular season statistics, though, so this NLDS marks the first technical postseason meeting.
The Dodgers Report
Universally accepted as one of the most talented rosters ever assembled, the Dodgers matched a franchise record with 106 wins. LA added Max Scherzer to bolster a deep rotation that has lost Dustin May (Tommy John surgery), Tony Gonsolin (shoulder), Trevor Bauer (sexual assault allegations) and Clayton Kershaw (elbow) either indefinitely or for long stretches.
In the Scherzer deal also came Trea Turner, the MLB batting leader and a threat on the base paths. LA has four former MVPs — Mookie Betts, Cody Bellinger, Albert Pujols and Kershaw — to go along with him in an order without any holes.
In the end, this is a battle between the two best teams in baseball. A shame it had to happen so early in the postseason.
Giants X-Factor: Camilo Doval
The Giants’ bullpen is the only relatively inexperienced area of the roster. Doval, as well as fellow rookie Kervin Castro, are primed to play major roles.
Doval was lights out in September, earning Reliever of the Month by throwing 14.1 scoreless innings and recording his first three career saves. He’s become the flame-throwing lynchpin of the bullpen with the best ERA in baseball (2.99).
Gabe Kapler will deploy his high leverage arms in a variety of ways based on game situations, but Doval has earned the chance to face opponents’ toughest hitters. For LA, that could be Betts, Turner, Corey Seager, Will Smith and Justin Turner.
Dodgers X-Factor: Cody Bellinger
There’s no MLB player since before RBI were officially tracked who fared worse against any single team than Bellinger did this year against the Giants.
In 14 games against SF, Bellinger hit .042. He went 2-for-48 with 21 strikeouts.
But Bellinger, the 2017 Rookie of the Year and 2019 NL MVP, has all the talent in the world. He reached base safely three of four times and stole a base against the Cardinals in the Wild Card Game. If he can shake off his career-worst season — a .165/.240/.302 slash line — and make an impact in the NLDS, the Giants could be in deep trouble.
Stat to know: 2
In 19 regular season games played, the Dodgers outscored the Giants 80-78, a difference of two runs. The difference between LA and SF is razor thin. A Mike Tauchman home run robbery, a Darin Ruf check-swing, throwing errors from Cody Bellinger or Trea Turner thin.
These two teams have been on a crash course all season, destined to meet with everything on the line with the two best records in MLB. Now, with both teams at 107 overall wins, the historic rivals meet in the postseason for the first time. It feels cosmic.