After winning their respective divisions in 2016, the Los Angeles Dodgers and Washington Nationals will square off in the 2016 National League Division Series beginning Friday at 2:38 p.m. PT. Games 1 and 2 will be played at Nationals Park, with the series shifting to Dodger Stadium for Game 3.
As expected, the NLDS will open with Clayton Kershaw and Max Scherzer on the mound. Dodgers manager Dave Roberts set his rotation last week, while Nationals manager Dusty Baker on Tuesday confirmed Scherzer as his Game 1 starter.
Washington finished with a 95-67 record, compared to the Dodgers’ 91-71 mark. However, the Nationals are dealing with a slew of injuries.
Baker officially ruled Strasburg out for the NLDS, and perhaps longer, and All-Star catcher Wilson Ramos is also unavailable after tearing his ACL.
Bryce Harper, Daniel Murphy, Jayson Werth and Ryan Zimmerman are also on the mend, though the trio is expected to be ready for Game 1.
Aside from the Nationals being a banged-up bunch, another factor perhaps leaning in the Dodgers’ favor is they won five of six head-to-head meetings in 2016.
Series at Dodger Stadium
June 20: Dodgers 4, Nationals 1
The first meeting between the two teams was expected to be a spectacular pitching matchup between Kershaw and Strasburg, but Strasburg was scratched from the start due to an upper back strain. He was replaced by swingman Yusmeiro Petit.
Los Angeles jumped on Petit early, as the then red-hot Justin Turner hit a solo home run in the first inning to give the Dodgers a 1-0 lead. Turner then added to that lead with a fourth-inning single that scored Corey Seager.
Joc Pederson’s solo home run in the fifth put the Dodgers ahead, 3-0. That was all Kershaw needed as he gave up six hits and one run while striking out eight in seven innings of work.
Kenley Jansen shut the door in the ninth inning, pitching a perfect frame while striking out two. The save was his 20th of the season, and 162nd in his career as a Dodger, making Jansen the franchise’s all-time saves leader.
June 21: Dodgers 3, Nationals 2
Los Angeles struggled in the second game of the series against Nationals right-hander Tanner Roark for the first seven innings.
Going into the bottom of the eighth inning the Dodgers trailed, 2-0, due to Scott Kazmir allowing solo home runs to Harper and Danny Espinosa. After holding the Dodgers to just four hits over seven innings, Roark quickly saw his night’s work erased in the eighth.
Pederson drew a leadoff walk and Yasiel Puig reached on an infield single to put two on with nobody out. Yasmani Grandal then launched a towering three-run home run that proved to be the difference.
June 22: Dodgers 4, Nationals 3
Dodgers rookie Julio Urias took the mound with the Dodgers in position to sweep the Nationals. While Urias pitched well, giving up six hits and two runs while striking out six in five innings, the game was remembered for another reason.
Nationals center fielder Michael Taylor not only went 0-for-5 with five strikeouts, but he single-handedly cost his team the game in the bottom of the ninth inning. With the Nationals leading, 3-2, Puig stepped to the plate with a runner on first and one out.
He hit a hard grounder up middle that Taylor let the go under his glove, and the ball rolled to the fence in center field. The tying run scored easily, and Puig raced around the bases for an exhilarating walk-off Little League home run.
Series at Nationals Park
July 19: Dodgers 8, Nationals 4
After a disappointing series out of the All-Star break against the Arizona Diamondbacks, the Dodgers looked to right the ship at Nationals Park. They faced Reynaldo Lopez, who made his Major League debut, in the series opener.
The Dodgers jumped on Lopez early, as Chase Utley hit a leadoff home run in the first inning and Pederson drove in a pair with a single. They added three more runs to their lead in the fifth, all of Lopez, who allowed six runs in 4.2 innings of work.
Kazmir turned in another good start against Washington, going seven innings, yielding four hits and one run while striking out eight. Chris Hatcher struggled in the eight inning as he gave up three runs without recording an out, but Adam Liberatore and Jansen came in and shut the door on any Nationals’ comeback possibility.
July 20: Nationals 8, Dodgers 1
Left-hander Gio Gonzalez turned in a strong start on July 20, helping the Nationals earn their only victory against the Dodgers this season.
Gonzalez gave up three hits and one run while striking out six in six innings, which was more than enough on a day that his offense produced eight runs. Ben Revere hit a rare leadoff home run against Bud Norris, and just a couple batters later Harper hit a towering home run to give Washington a 3-0 lead.
The Dodgers offense could never get going as they managed just four hits on the night, compared to nine for the Nationals. Every Nationals starter except Espinosa had a hit in the game.
July 21: Dodgers 6, Nationals 3
In the final game between the two teams, Urias made the start for Los Angeles as Washington sent the then-undefeated Strasburg to the mound.
Turner jumped on Strasburg early as he hit a two-run home run in the first inning, and a three-run homer in the third. Strasburg gave up seven hits and six runs in six innings despite striking out 10 in what was his first loss of the season.
Urias, on the other hand, pitched well enough to win as he gave up just one run in four innings of work. Jansen again shut the door in the ninth.
