The 2017 season was a memorable one for the Los Angeles Dodgers, although it ultimately did not end how they wanted it to as they were defeated by the Houston Astros in Game 7 of the World Series.
The two teams look like they could be on a collision course for a rematch this October, both sitting in first place in their respective divisions. But first, they will meet in the regular season for a three-game series that begins Friday night at Dodger Stadium.
At the risk of looking too far ahead, Dodgers manager Dave Roberts is excited to see how his team stacks up against a championship-caliber club across the way, via J.P. Hoornstra of the Southern California News Group:
“For what that’s worth, yeah, each game is one game, but you do want to bring your best playing against a championship team,” Roberts said. “When you get that opportunity to play them again, we know we have to play our best to beat them. We’re going to see some very good pitching.”
Alex Wood, who carried a no-hitter into the sixth inning against Houston in Game 4, gets the start in the series opener against Justin Verlander.
Wood is also excited to face Houston, which he believes might elicit some of the emotions from last fall:
“It’ll be fun to see those guys, have some of those feelings from last October, November creep back into our clubhouse,” Wood said. “It’s always fun to play teams like that.”
The Dodgers won’t be facing the same Astros team that they played in the World Series though, as their All-Star middle infield duo of Jose Altuve and Carlos Correa are both currently on the disabled list.
Additionally, World Series MVP George Springer is dealing with a shoulder injury, so it is unknown what his availability will be.
It should nonetheless be an entertaining series, with the Dodgers facing three of Houston’s top pitchers in Verlander, Gerrit Cole and Lance McCullers. Los Angeles sends Wood, Kenta Maeda and Walker Buehler to the mound.
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