The Los Angeles Dodgers take their 1-0 lead in the NLDS against the Washington Nationals into game 2, which takes place later than it initially should have been due to being rained out.
Both teams weren’t happy with their starting pitching in the first game, but the bullpen for the Dodgers came through, hoping that their midseason acquisition of Rich Hill pays off in more than the regular season.
Previous game: The Dodgers scored all their runs (4) within 3 innings, including home runs by Corey Seager and Justin Turner. Max Scherzer didn’t do well for the Nationals, but neither did Clayton Kershaw for the Dodgers, as Anthony Rendon and Trea Turner brought the Nats into the game. However, it became a battle of bullpens, and the Dodgers gave up only one hit in 4 innings to hold on to a 4-3 win on the road.
Starting pitchers: Rich Hill will be on the mound for the Dodgers. The 36-year old has had a tremendous season for both the A’s and Dodgers, when a nagging blister hasn’t sidelined him. He has a 1.83 ERA since joining the Dodgers, with a fantastic 7.80 strikeouts per walk ratio. He hasn’t pitched this season against the Nationals. The sample size is tiny for him against Nationals batters, but Ryan Zimmerman has hit 2 home runs in 9 at bats against him.
Tanner Roark is coming off his first season with over 200 innings pitched, posting a career best 2.83 ERA. While his striking out numbers are rising (7.4 per nine innings), his so/bb ratio is down to just 2.36, a career low. He pitched for 7.1 innings against the Dodgers in a 3-2 loss, giving up the 3 runs. Yasmani Grandal and Adrian Gonzalez have hit home runs off of him, but there’s no one specific who has posed a problem for him so far in his career.
Hot bats: Both Justin Turner and Yasmani Grandal had a couple of hits in the 4-3 win in game 1. Hitting wasn’t a problem for the Nationals in the first game (1-for-10 with runners in scoring position), manaing nine, including two for Rendon and Zimmerman.