LOS ANGELES DODGERS (0-1) at San Francisco Giants (1-0)
LHP Julio Urías (20-3, 2.96) vs. RHP Kevin Gausman (14-6, 2.81)
LOS ANGELES DODGERS
REPEAT LA: The Dodgers dropped game one of the National League Division Series as the Giants shutout the Dodgers, 4-0 on Friday Night. The Dodgers were limited to five hits and went 0-for5 with runners in scoring position as Giants’ hurler Logan Webb fired 7.2 scoreless innings with 10 strikeouts. The Dodgers and Giants continue their best-of-five series tonight and will travel back to Los Angeles tonight for a scheduled day-off before the two squads meet on Monday night for Game 3 of the NLDS at Dodger Stadium. Walker Buehler suffered the loss last night, allowing three runs on six hits with five strikeouts. He was beat by the long ball as the Giants scored all four runs on homers, two against Buehler. The two homers he allowed were the most he has ever allowed in a playoff game, while suffering his first loss since Game 3 of the NLCS in 2018 against the Brewers, which is also the last time the Dodgers were shutout in a postseason game (L, 0-4 at Dodger Stadium). This matchup involves the two best records in all of baseball and it is the first time in Major League Baseball history that two 105+ wins teams will meet in the postseason.
ALL GOOD THINGS COME TO AN END: The Dodgers went 106-56, finishing the season with a franchise tying 106 wins (2019) and the second-best mark in the Major Leagues. The Dodgers .654 winning percentage was slightly behind the San Francisco Giants, who also set a franchise record with 107 wins and a .660 winning percentage. The Dodgers .654 winning percentage is tied fourth highest with the 2019 squad since 1900, trailing only the 2020 (.717), 1953 (.682) and 1942 (.675) teams.
START ME UP: Dodger starting pitchers lead the Major Leagues in ERA (2.93), WHIP (1.03), opponents’ average (.209) and opponents’ OBP (.265) and finished third in the Majors with 1.09 home runs per 9.0 innings. According to Sport Radar, the Dodgers are just the fifth staff in the divisional era to lead the Majors in both opponents’ average by a reliever (.205) and opponents’ average by a starter (.209). The other teams were the 1993 Braves, the 2012 Rays, the 2016 Cubs and the 2018 Astros. Los Angeles starters finished with a National League best 74 quality starts despite having 20 different players start a a game for them this season
THE BIG 3: Max Scherzer, Walker Buehler and Julio Urías led the pitching staff all season, going a combined 43-7 with a 2.59 ERA. The Dodgers went 59-17 in games started by one of the three. The three hurlers joined the 1927 New York Yankees as the only teams to ever to have the Top-3 pitchers in win pct. at the end of the season (min. 15 decisions), as Urías led the Majors with a .870 winning percentage, while Buehler (.800) and Scherzer (.789) finished second and third. Urías made history on 10/2, becoming the fourth Mexicanborn pitcher to win 20 games, joining Fernando Valenzuela (1986), Teddy Higuera (1986) and Esteban Loiaza (2003). He is the Dodgers’ first 20-game winner since Clayton Kershaw in 2014 and the first in the NL since Max Scherzer in 2016. Urías is just the 13th Los Angeles Dodger to join the 20-win club, joining Sandy Koufax (3 times), Clayton Kershaw (2), Don Drysdale (2), Claude Osteen (2), Orel Hershiser, Fernando Valenzuela, Al Downing, Bill Singer, Andy Messersmith, Tommy John, Don Sutton and Ramon Martinez. His .870 winning percentage is fifth all-time in MLB history behind Randy Johnson (.900, 1995), Ron Guidry (.893, 1978), Max Scherzer (.875, 2013) and Clayton Kershaw (.875, 2014) (Minimum 25 starts). Buehler finished his fifth season, recording career-highs in innings pitched (207.2), wins (16), starts (33) and posting his second 200+ strikeout season. He finished the campaign among the league leaders in wins (3rd), ERA (2.47), strikeouts (7th, 212), starts (T-1st), Opp. Avg (2nd, .212). Scherzer posted a 7-0 record with a 1.98 ERA (15 ER/68.1 IP) and 92 strikeouts in 11 starts for the Dodgers. The Dodgers went 11-0 in his starts and on Sept. 12 vs. SD, he
became the 19th player in Major League Baseball history to record his 3,000-strikeout with a strikeout of Eric Hosmer. He currently ranks 18th all-time with 3,020 strikeouts and is the strikeout leader amongst active players
LHP Julio Urías (20-3, 2.96 ERA in 32 GS)
2021 Regular Season:
Last pitched on Saturday against the Brewers, when he picked up his MLB-best 20th win…allowed one run on one hit and two walks in 6.1 innings…struck out seven and threw 92 pitches in the Dodgers’ 8-3 victory
Became the first Dodger to lead the league in wins since 2018, when Clayton Kershaw tied Carlos Carrasco, Jason Vargas and Corey Kluber with 18 wins…Kershaw was also the last Dodger to lead the Majors in wins outright with 21 in 2014
Posted the 12th 20-win season in Los Angeles history (last: Clayton Kershaw 2014, 21 W)…could become the 4th Mexican-born pitcher with a 20-win season, joining Estaban Loaiza (21 W, 2003 CWS), Fernando Valenzuela (21 W, 1986 LAD) and Teddy Higuera (20 W, 1986 MIL)
Has not lost since June 21, going 11-0 with a 2.03 ERA (22 ER/97.2 IP) during the 17-start unbeaten streak
Also ranks among the NL’s best in WHIP (1.02, 6th), opponents’ batting average (.219, 9th), (opponents’ OBP (.266, 7th) and innings (185.2, t-7th)
Has 195 strikeouts against just 38 walks (5.13 SO/BB, 5th NL)
At the plate, is tied for third among NL pitchers with 12 hits and is tied for first with nine RBI…is tied for third with 10 sacrifices
The Dodgers have gone 26-6 in his 32 starts
At the plate, tied Colorado’s German Marquez for the most RBI among NL pitchers with nine RBI and is tied for third with 12 hits
Had a brief IL stint from Aug. 14-24 due to a left calf contusion
Career vs. Giants:
Has gone 2-3 with a 2.61 ERA (22 ER/76.0 IP) in 20 games (14 starts) against the Giants
Faced the Giants five times in 2021, going 2-1 with 3.38 ERA (11 ER/29.1 IP) in five starts…most of the damage came on May 29 at odger Stadium, where he allowed seven runs (six earned) in 5.0 innings…otherwise, he held the Giants to two or fewer runs in each start
Picked up the win in his last start vs. San Francisco on Sept. 4 at Oracle Park, when he allowed one run on eight hits with eight strikeouts in 5.2 innings Career Postseason:
Propelled the Dodgers to their 2020 championship, going 4-0 with one save and a 1.17 ERA (3 ER/23.0 IP) in six Postseason games (two starts)…closed out clinching games of both the NLCS and World Series, with 3.0 perfect innings in NLCS Game 7 to earn the win and picked up the save in World Series Game 6 with four strikeouts in 2.1 clean frames without a baserunner
Has been at his best in the Postseason during the course of his career, going 6-2 with one save and 2.79 ERA (12 ER/38.2 IP) in 18 Postseason games (three starts)…has limited opponents to a .175 average with a 0.85 WHIP in the Postseason
SAN FRANCISCO GIANTS
NL WEST CHAMPIONS: The 2021 NL West Champion San Francisco Giants concluded their 139th regular season of play by winning
their sixth NL West title and first since 2012… overall, it’s the Giants’ ninth division title since 1969…the Giants took sole possession of first place following their win on May 31 and held it for 121 of 122 days for the remainder of the season, beating out the Los Angeles Dodgers by 1.0 game.
TONIGHT’S GAME: The Giants and Dodgers play Game 2 of this best-of-five Division Series with SF leading the series 1-0…San Francisco is in the Postseason for the first time since 2016, while Los Angeles-NL has made the Postseason for the ninth-consecutive season.
OCTOBER BASEBALL: The Giants are playing in the postseason for the 27th time in franchise history (since 1900)…it’s the 13th postseason appearance in SF-era history (since 1958).
WINNING THE WEST: The Giants won their first NL West title since 2012 and their sixth overall…the Giants have won NL West titles in 1997, 2000, 2003, 2010, 2012 and 2021 since the division was formed in 1994.
POSTSEASON HISTORY: The Giants are 99-90-2 all-time in postseason play and 60-49 in the SF-era (since 1958)…they are 19-19-2 (win-lostsplit) in 40 postseason series, having gone 15-18 (4-4-0 win-lost-split) in eight trips to the NLDS, 24-15 (5-2-0) in seven trips to the NLCS and 57-57-2 in the World Series (8-12-2).
27 APPEARANCES: The Giants’ 27 postseason appearances (since 1900) are tied for fifth-most all-time behind the New York Yankees
(57), Brooklyn/Los Angeles Dodgers (35), St. Louis Cardinals (31) and Philadelphia/Kansas City/Oakland Athletics (29).
WINNING WAYS IN PLAYOFFS: Beginning with the 2010 postseason, the Giants have gone 36-17 (.685) in postseason play, going 18-8 (.692) at home and 19-9 (.679) on the road.
THE BUSTA BROUGHT ME BACK: Last night’s shutout victory was the 13th time that Buster Posey was the starting catcher in a postseason game his team won via a shutout according to Elias…Posey’s 13 such games are by far the most in postseason history ahead of Yadier Molina (8) and Yogi Berra (7)…Posey has been the starting catcher for exactly half of the Giants postseason shutout victories all-time.
SHUT THE FRONT DOOR: Last night’s shutout victory was the 26th posted by a Giants team in the postseason all-time…that total is second-most behind only the Yankees, who have posted 32 postseason shutouts…they, however, have played in 414 postseason games compared to the Giants’ 191.
THE WOLVERINE: Logan Webb’s outing last night (7.2ip, 0r, 0bb, 10so) stands among one of the best postseason debuts in Giants history…he became the fourth Giant to strike out double-digit batters in his first career postseason game and was the only one of the
four to not allow a walk.
DEEP THOUGHTS: SF clubbed three homers in last night’s win…it was only the 12th time in the club’s postseason history they hit at least three homers in a game…they only hit more than three once (Game 2 of the 2002 World Series at Anaheim).
CATCH ME UP…: With yesterday’s shutout win, C Buster Posey now has a 2.59 catcher’s ERA in 476 career postseason innings caught.. that total is second-lowest all-time (min. 225 postseason innings caught).
POSTSEASON LEADERS: C Buster Posey leads all Giants players in postseason games played with 54…IF Brandon Crawford is tied for second on the list with 39 games and IF Brandon Belt is tied for fifth with 37 games…Posey’s 52 postseason hits are the second-most in club history behind Pablo Sandoval (53).
KEVIN GAUSMAN RHP #34
2021 RECORD: 14-6, 2.81 ERA
Height/Weight: 6-2/197 Bats/Throws: L/R
Born: Centennial, CO
Age: 30 (January 6, 1991) Signed Through: 2021
POSTSEASON: Slated to make his first career postseason start…has pitched out of the bullpen four times in the postseason, in 2014 with Baltimore and 2018 with Atlanta…overall, has tossed 10.0 postseason innings, allowing three runs on six hits with 11 strikeouts…has made it past the DS once in 2014.
CAREER YEAR: 30-year-old right-hander completed his second season in a Giants uniform and his ninth big league season overall in 2021…Gausman produced career-high marks in wins (14), innings (192.0), strikeouts (227) and ERA (2.81).
STRIKE THREE!: His 227 strikeouts were the most by a Giants pitcher in a single-season since Madison Bumgarner struck out 251 batters in 2016.
WINNING WAYS: The Giants went 21-12 (.636) in his starts this year, going 7-7 at Oracle Park and 14-5 on the road.
VS. LOS ANGELES-NL: Faces the Dodgers for a fourth time this season after going 1-1 with a 3.21 ERA (5er, 14.0ip) with 16 strikeouts in three prior starts…since joining the Giants in 2020, Gausman has faced the Dodgers six times, going 1-2 with a 3.10 ERA (10er, 29.0ip) and 30 strikeouts…five of those six starts have come at Dodger Stadium…his lone start here at Oracle Park vs. LA came August 27, 2020 where he allowed two runs on three hits in 4.2 innings with six punchouts.
2 BEST PITCHES: Threw just two pitches the majority of his starts, throwing his four-seam fastball 52.7% of the time while holding opponents to a .257 clip with 81 strikeouts…threw his split finger 35.4%, generating 138 strikeouts and a .133 average against.
QUALITY COUNTS: Allowed three earned runs or fewer in 29 of 33 starts overall…his 20 quality starts were tied with Zack Wheeler and Brandon Woodruff for the fourth-most in the NL…only Walker Buehler (27), Sandy Alcantara (23) and Adam Wainwright (22) had more.
FIRST VS. SECOND: Went 9-3 with a 1.73 ERA and .159 opponents avg. against in 18 starts in the first half of the season…posted a 5-3 record and a 4.42 ERA and .276 opponents avg. against in 15 second half outings.
SWING AND MISS: Generated 492 swing and misses this season, the second-most of any MLB pitcher behind only Robbie Ray (527)…Max Scherzer is third on this list (487) followed by Lucas Giolito (483) and Dylan Cease (478).
WITH RISP: Opposition went 22-for-143 (.154) against him with RISP and 10-for-68 (.147) off him with RISP and two outs.
NL ALL-STAR: Was named to his first career All-Star team, but did not pitch in the game as he started the Giants’ final game before the break.
ROAD RECORD: Allowed three runs or fewer in 16-straight road starts from April 1-August 4, tied with Kirk Reuter (2001-02) for the second-longest streak by a Giants pitcher in the modern era behind Chrisy Mathewson (24-straight from 1908-09).
