The Los Angeles Dodgers had a chance to close out the Washington Nationals in Game 4 of the National League Division Series but were unable to do so, leading to a decisive Game 5 at Dodger Stadium on Wednesday night.
This is not the first time that these two teams have met in a Game 5 of the NLDS as they also did so in 2016, with the Dodgers, of course, coming away with a thrilling victory at Nationals Park.
They hope to do the same this time around, and they are sending the perfect guy to the mound to get the job done in Walker Buehler. The right-hander also pitched Game 1 of this series, tossing six shutout innings while allowing just one hit with eight strikeouts and three walks to earn a victory.
Buehler has pitched in a winner-take-all game before, getting the start in Game 7 of the NL Championship Series in 2018. He fared well in that outing as well, allowing just one run in 4.2 innings against the Milwaukee Brewers on the road.
In five career postseason starts, Buehler is 1-1 with a 3.03 ERA and 0.81 WHIP with 37 strikeouts and seven walks in 29.2 innings. He has been great at Dodger Stadium this season, yielding a 2.86 ERA in 14 regular-season starts on the road compared to 3.66 in 16 starts on the road.
Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said every pitcher on the staff is available to enter out of the bullpen, including Clayton Kershaw and Hyun-Jin Ryu. Kershaw is on full rest so could pitch multiple innings, while Ryu isn’t all that comfortable pitching in relief and could be considered unlikely to appear.
Getting the start for the Nationals is Stephen Strasburg, who has also stepped up time and time again in big situations. The right-hander has pitched in five career postseason games (four starts), posting a minuscule 0.64 ERA and 0.82 WHIP with 38 strikeouts and four walks in 28 innings.
Strasburg started Game 2 of the NLDS and therefore is on one fewer day of rest than Buehler. He pitched a gem in that game at Dodger Stadium, giving up three hits and one run in six innings while striking out 10 without issuing a walk.
Strasburg carried a no-hitter into the fifth inning of Game 2, although Will Smith broke it up with a single. He is behind the plate to catch Buehler, as he did in Game 1. The only run that Strasburg gave up came in the sixth inning when Matt Beaty singled, Joc Pederson doubled and Justin Turner hit a sacrifice fly.
One name who is noticeably absent from the Dodgers lineup is their big offseason signing A.J. Pollock. He has had success against Strasburg in the past but is 0-for-12 with 10 strikeouts in this series so Roberts opted to keep him on the bench for the second consecutive game.
Kiké Hernandez is in left field, with Matt Beaty at first base and Max Muncy over at second. “I love his at-bat quality,” Roberts said of Beaty.
While some of the Dodgers’ big bats like Max Muncy and Justin Turner have shown up in this series, others like Cody Bellinger and Seager have not. Bellinger has a .561 on-base plus slugging percentage in the four games while Seagers’ OPS is just .485, so they will need to get going if Los Angeles wants to squeak out a Game 5 win and advance to the NLCS.
Dodgers lineup:
RF: Joc Pederson
2B: Max Muncy
3B: Justin Turner
CF: Cody Bellinger
1B: Matt Beaty
SS: Corey Seager
LF: Kiké Hernandez
C: Will Smith
P: Walker Buehler
Nationals lineup:
SS: Trea Turner
RF: Adam Eaton
3B: Anthony Rendon
LF: Juan Soto
2B: Howie Kendrick
1B: Ryan Zimmerman
C: Kurt Suzuki
CF: Michael A. Taylor
P: Stephen Strasburg
