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Sports Oct 08, 2021
| Photo courtesy of Pixabay
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The Los Angeles Dodgers will open their National League Division Series against the San Francisco Giants Friday evening at Oracle Park in San Francisco in a matchup of the teams with MLB’s best records in 2021.
The Giants won a franchise-record 107 games to end the Dodgers’ eight-season streak of winning the NL West title. The Dodgers won a franchise record-tying 106 games.
Walker Buehler will start for the Dodgers and face fellow right-hander Logan Webb of the Giants. Buehler had MLB’s second-best winning percentage (.800 on a 16-4 record), third-best ERA (2.47), and tied for third in victories. Opposing batters hit .199 against him, the second-lowest average in MLB.
The Dodgers were 22-10 in Buehler’s starts. San Francisco was 21-5 in Webb’s starts.
Webb was 11-3 with a 3.03 ERA in the regular season and 6-0 with a 1.96 ERA at Oracle Park, where the Giants were 12-0 in his starts, including Sunday’s 11-4 victory over the San Diego Padres that assured San Francisco of the division championship, their first since 2012.
Webb has made 20 consecutive starts without a losing decision, matching the third-longest streak in franchise history. The Giants are 18-2 in Webb’s last 20 starts.
Buehler was 3-1 with a 2.19 ERA against San Francisco in 2021. He had won each of his first seven decisions against the Giants before a 6-4 loss Sept. 5 in his final 2021 regular-season appearance against them where he allowed six runs in three innings.
Webb was 1-0 with a 2.25 ERA in three appearances against the Dodgers in 2021.
The Dodgers were 9-10 against San Francisco, 5-4 at Oracle Park.
The Dodgers advanced to the NLDS by defeating the St. Louis Cardinals, 3-1, in the NL wild-card game Wednesday at Dodger Stadium. The Dodgers won their final seven regular-season games.
This is the first time the Dodgers and Giants have met in the postseason. Teams from the same division could not meet in the postseason until 1994, the first season more than one team from a division could play in the postseason.
The playoff series between the Dodgers and Giants in 1951 and 1962 to decide the National League pennant after they finished the regular season tied were considered part of the regular season.
Viewing parties for all road games of the NLDS will be at Dodger Stadium in the Centerfield Plaza. The parties will include the opportunities to hit and pitch in the batting and pitching cages. There will also be World Series Replica Ring giveaways and free parking for ticketholders.
Dodger merchandise locations will be open in the Centerfield Plaza along with concessions in the Overlook Bars, Dueling Dogs, Golden Road Bar, Shake Shack, Jim Beam Bar, Mastercard Food Truck, ice cream truck and Michelada fire truck.
Viewing Party tickets cost $70 and include a $20 food and beverage credit. Parking and stadium gates will open one hour before game times. More information is available at Dodgers.com/ViewingParty.
Tickets for Game 3 Monday and Game 4, if necessary, Tuesday are on sale at Dodgers.com/Postseason.
