LHP Alex Wood vs. RHP Max Scherzer (0-0, 2.08)
SAN FRANCISCO GIANTS
TONIGHT’S GAME: The Giants and Dodgers play Game 3 of this best-of-five Division Series with the series tied at a game a piece..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.
POSTSEASON HISTORY: The Giants are 99-91-2 all-time in postseason play and 60-50 in the SF-era (since 1958)…they are 19-19-2 (win-lost-split) in 40 postseason series, having gone 16-19 (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 37-18 (.673) in postseason play, going 18-9 (.667) at home and 19-9 (.679) on the road.
POSTSEASON LEADERS: C Buster Posey leads all Giants players in postseason games played with 55…IF Brandon Crawford is second on the list with 40 games and IF Brandon Belt is tied for fifth with 37 games…with Posey’s three hits on Saturday, he now has the most post-season hits in Giants history, passing IF Pablo Sandoval… Crawford is now fifth-most with 33.
ON THE ROAD: Tonight’s game marks SF’s first road postseason game since Game 2 of the 2016 NLDS at Chicago, a game the Giants lost 5-2…overall, the Giants have dropped four of their last six road playoff games dating to Game 2 of the 2014 World Series and five of their last eight dating to Game 2 of the 2014 NLCS…prior to that, SF won seven straight road playoff games
AT CHAVEZ RAVINE: SF was 6-4 at Dodger Stadium in 2021 during the regular season, winning three of its last four games there during the two team’s final season series there in mid July…they outscored LA here 52-40 (+12) during the season series here in Los Angeles while posting a .772 OPS and averaging better than five runs a game (5.2)…since 2020, the Giants are 9-8 here in LA and are one of three opposing teams to play .500 or better baseball here in that time…the others are Cincinnati (2-1, .667) and Houston (2-2, .500).
GAME THREE’S: The Giants are 6-4 in Game 3’s since 2010, winning their last Game 3 contest in the 2016 NLDS vs. Chicago 6-5 in 13 innings at Oracle Park…the last NLDS Game 3 that the Giants won on the road came in Game 3 of the 2012 NLDS at Cincinnati , 2- in 10 innings… in their playoff history, the Giants are 16-19 in Game 3’s all-time (7-14 in the SF-era, 1958- pres.).
ALEX WOOD LHP #57
2021 RECORD: 10-4, 3.83 ERA
Height/Weight: 6-4/210 Bats/Throws: R/L
Born: Charlotte, NC
Age: 30 (January 12, 1991) Signed Through: 2021
REGULAR SEASON: In his first year with San Francisco after signing a one-year deal on January 14, 2021, Wood went 10-4 with a
3.83 ERA (59er, 138.2ip) in 26 starts…SF went 19-7 in Wood’s 26 starts this season…the 26 starts and 138.1 innings pitched were his
most since he made 27 starts and worked 151.2 innings a member of the Dodgers in 2018.
POSTSEASON: Tonight’s outing marks Wood’s third career postseason start and first since 2017 with the Dodgers…he’s 0-1 with a 3.48 ERA (4er, 10.1ip) in those two outings…overall, this is Wood’s seventh trip to the postseason (2013 with Atlanta and 2015-2018
as well as 2020 with LA)…he’s 1-2 with a .3.55 ERA in 20 games (two starts) during postseason play.
DOUBLE TIME: Wood reached the double-digit win threshold for the fourth time in his career and for the first time since 2017 when
he recorded a career-best 16 victories with the Dodgers. WORKIN HARD: His 138.2 innings were a significant jump from 2020 where he threw 12.2 regular-season innings and 6.2 more in the postseason…in 2019 with Cincinnati, Wood was limited to 35.2 innings due to injury.
PUNCHES: Tallied 152 strikeouts this year, the second-highest total of his career behind his 170 strikeouts in 2014, his second full
Major League season…Wood averaged 9.9 K/9ip this year, the highest rate of his career over a full season…91 of those 152 strikeouts (59.9%) came in at-bats that ended with his slider…additionally, Wood’s 26% strikeout rate and his 27.6% swing and miss rate were the highest of his career over full seasons.
THE STOPPER: When Wood took the mound following a Giants loss the game prior, the Giants were 12-1 this season…the only game that Wood started for SF following a loss that the team did not come away with a victory in was August 20 at Oakland after losing to the
Mets two days prior in San Francisco…the 12th and final victory took place on September 24 at Colorado (SF lost the previous day at San Diego).
WHIP IT!: Turned in a 1.183 WHIP this season, his lowest since a career-low 1.057 WHIP in 2017…overall it’s the third-lowest WHIP of his career behind 2017 and 2014 (1.142).
VS. LOS ANGELES-NL: Wood will face his former team for a fourth time this season after going 0-2 with a 4.72 ERA in three starts
against the Dodgers during the regular season…in 52 career games (40 starts) here at Dodger Stadium, Wood owns a 3.05 ERA (85er,
250.2ip).
BOTH SIDES OF THE RIVALRY: There have been four pitchers who previously recorded wins vs. LA while pitching for SF and wins vs.
SF while pitching for LA since both clubs moved west in 1958… Wood will try and become the fifth pitcher to do so. Starters to Win for SF vs. LA & for LA vs. SF – Since 1958
Starting Pitcher Wins for LA Wins for SF
Dennis Cook 2 1
Orel Hershiser 19 2
Brett Tomko 1 3
Brad Penny 5 1
Alex Wood 3 0
chart courtesy Stats, LLC
HOT OUT OF THE GATE: Was one of SF’s best starters early in the season once returning from the IL in mid-April…was 5-1 with a
1.93 ERA (9er, 42.0ip) with 42 strikeouts in his first seven starts of the season…he pitched at least 5.0 innings and allowed two or fewer runs in each of those seven starts, the longest such stretch of his career.
FINISHING STRONG: Ended the season on a high note, posting a 2.40 ERA (8er, 30.0ip) with 37 strikeouts, five walks and a .230
opponent’s BAA over his final six outings from August 15 through the end of the regular season around his time on the IL…the Giants went 5-1 in his final six starts of the campaign.
ROLLIN WITH MY HOMIES: In his last eight home starts, Wood was 3-0 with a 2.84ERA (14er, 44.1ip) with 46 strikeouts while holding
opposing hitters to a .195 BAA…the Giants were 8-0 in those starts and did not lose a Wood start at home after June 19 vs. Philadelphia…overall, Wood was 7-2 with a 3.58 ERA (33er, 83.0ip) in 15 starts at home this season.
FEET ON THE GROUND: Wood’s 50.8 groundball percentage was eighth-best among NL starters this year (min. 25 starts)…it was his
best groundball rate over a full season since 2017 with the Dodgers (53.8%).
WOOD PITCH ARSENAL / STATCAST INFO (2021)
Pitch Type Usage Percentage Avg. Velo BAA SO
Sinker 46.4% 91.8 mph .251 45
Slider 31.6% 83.9 mph .184 91
Changeup 22.0% 85.3 mph .308 16
WOOD VS. LOS ANGELES-NL (CAREER)
Last Win: 7/21/15 vs. LAD Last Loss: 5/27/21 at LAD
W-L ERA G/GS IP H ER BB SO
2021 0-2 4.72 3/3 17.0 20 9 3 22
Career 2-2 3.12 8/6 40.1 40 14 11 42
at LAD 1-1 2.93 6/4 27.2 26 9 5 32
TODAY’S STARTER
PACE YOURSELF: This season, Wood was one of the quickest pitchers between delivering pitches, taking an average of 21.43 seconds between pitches this season…that was fourth-fastest in MLB (min. 25gs) behind Wade Miley (18.27), Tarik Skubal (20.75) and John Means (21.05) (Elias).
A TALE OF TWO GAMES: In the first two innings of his starts in 2021, Wood was tremendous with a 1.50 ERA (8er, 48.0ip)
ranking second in MLB behind Lance Lynn (1.21 ERA) (min. 40ip)…however, from the 3rd inning on his ERA jumps to 5.47 (49er, 80.2ip).
Alex Wood, Innings 1-2 vs. Innings 3+ in 2021 Innings 1-2 Innings 3+ ERA 1.73 (10er, 52.0ip) 5.09 (49er, 86.2ip)
Opp BA .175 .269
w/RISP .185 .284
Opp SLG .251 .436
K/BB 6.20 3.10
Chart courtesy Stats, LLC
HARD CONTACT: Wood’s hard hit percentage (the percentage of balls that are hit 95+ mph) fluctuated this year…it was 34.1% in April, 42.4% in May, 47% in June, 48.7% in July, 32.5% in August and 32.3% in September…his 40.7% hard hit rate was the highest of his career since the data has been tracked since 2015, edging out his previous high of 40.6% in 2016 with LA.
IL TIME: Opened the season on SF’s Injured List after having a spinal ablation procedure on March 16 in Scottsdale by Dr. Allan Rowley to alleviate nerve issues in his lower back…made his season debut on April 18 at Miami…was also placed on the IL on August 30 after testing positive for Covid-19…was activated on September 18.
LOS ANGELES DODGERS
All-Time Postseason vs. SF: Series tied, 1-1 (1-1 at Oracle Park)
All-Time vs. SF: LA trails series, 1,248-1,270-17 (285-235 at Dodger Stadium)
2020: Los Angeles won series, 6-4 (4-3 at Dodger Stadium)
2021: SF won series, 9-10 (4-5 at Dodger Stadium)
Game 1 at SF: L, 0-4 W: Webb L: Buehler
REPEAT LA: The Dodgers took care of business on Saturday night, scoring nine runs on 11 hits and tying the series with a 9-2 win at Oracle Park. The series heads South as the Dodgers will welcome in the Giants for two games as Los Angeles looks to advance to their fifth Championship Series in their last six seasons with two more victories over San Francisco. Julio Urías earned the win on Saturday night, tossing 5.0 innings, allowing one run on three hits with five strikeouts. He earned his seventh postseason win, tying Madison
Bumgarner for the most by a pitcher age 25 or younger in postseason history. He ripped an RBI single in the second, scoring the Dodgers first run. He finished the season tied for the lead Major League lead in RBI (9) by a pitcher with German Marquez.
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. The Dodgers eight division titles was the longest active streak in the Major Leagues, and it was the third longest streak in Major League Baseball history:
MLB All-Time – Most Consecutive Division Titles
Braves, 1991-2005 14
Yankees, 1998-2006 9
Dodgers, 2013-2020 8
The Dodgers will play “October Baseball” for the 35th time in franchise history (26th time in Los Angeles) and for the 11th time in the last 14 years.
HOME SWEET HOME: The Dodgers set a franchise record, finishing the regular season with six straight wins at home and adding to their home winning streak of 15. The 15 straight wins is a new franchise record, surpassing the Brooklyn Robins, who won 14 straight in 1921 from April 12 – May 12. The Dodgers finished the home campaign with 58 wins, leading the Major Leagues in winning percentage (.712) and finishing one win shy of the franchise mark set by the 2019 team that went 59-22 at Dodger Stadium. The Dodgers are 55-37 (.598) at Dodger Stadium in the postseason and have won three straight postseason games at Dodger Stadium. The Dodgers franchise has won 77 games at home, trailing only the New York Yankees franchise for more wins at home (116) in MLB history. Los Angeles has led the National League in home winning percentage the last three seasons and four of the last five seasons. The Dodgers finished third in the Major Leagues with a .593 road winning percentage, finishing behind the San Francisco Giants (.654) and Milwaukee Brewers (.617) for the best road record in the Majors.
TO THE MAX: Dodger right-hander Max Scherzer will get his second chance at postseason baseball as he will take the mound for Game 3 of the NLDS. In his last start on Wednesday against the Cardinals, he went 4.1 innings, allowing one run on three hits with four strikeouts. This will be his 24th postseason appearance (20th start) following his dominant 2019 postseason in which he went 3-0 with a 2.40 ERA (8 ER/30.0 IP) and 37 strikeouts in six games (five starts). In his career, Scherzer has made 23 postseason appearances (19 starts) and he is 7-5 with a 3.33 ERA (43 ER/116.1 IP) and 141 strikeouts against 12 walks. In his career against the Giants, he is 4-5 with a 3.84 ERA (25 ER/58.2 IP) and 69 strikeouts with 18 walks in 11 starts. In his 19 career postseason starts, he is 6-4 with a 3.16 ERA (39 ER/111.0 IP) and 133 strikeouts against 44 walks. He has not dropped a game as a postseason starter since losing to the Cubs on October 12, 2017. He is 3-0 with a 2.27 ERA (10 ER/39.2 IP) and 45 strikeouts in his last seven postseason starts.
THE ENCORE: Dodger shortstop Corey Seager enters the postseason as the reigning NLCS and World Series MVP. He became the second Dodger in franchise history (Orel Hershiser in 1988) to win the NLCS and World Series MVP in the same season after clubbing seven homers in 18 games and slashing .328/.425/.746 in the 2020 postseason. He recorded an RBI on Saturday night, and currently ranks second all-time in franchise history in doubles, homers (11) and RBI (31). Seager finished his seventh season in Dodger Blue with a .306 batting average and 16 homers and 57 RBI. He missed part of the season with a broken hand but returned July 30th and finished the season hitting .335 (69-for-205) with 15 doubles, one triple, 12 homers and 35 RBI.
ROUNDTRIPPERS: Los Angeles clubbed 237 homers and finished the season third in the National League in homers, trailing only San Francisco (241) and Atlanta (239). It was the first season since 2017 that the Dodgers have not led the NL in homers. The Dodgers tied Colorado for the Major League lead with 11 grand slams this season, which set a new franchise record for bases loaded clouts, surpassing their previous high of 10, which they set in 2004. Max Muncy led the team with 36 homers, setting a new career-high and recording his 118th homer in Dodger Blue. The infielder’s 118 homers with the Dodgers rank 27th all-time and his 36 homers tied for fourth in the NL. With 35+ homers in three seasons (2018, 2019, 2021), he became only the third Dodger in Franchise history with three 35+ homer seasons, joining Duke Snider (5 times) and Mike Piazza (3). On August 7 against the Diamondbacks, the Dodgers tied a franchise record with eight homers in a game, matching their other two eight-homer games on March 28, 2019 vs. ARI and May 23, 2005 at MIL. The Dodgers had 12 games this season with four or more homers, which was fourth best in the Majors, behind San Francisco and Toronto (18) and Boston (13). Los Angeles homered in 123 of its 162 games and went 91-32 when hitting at least one homer. The Dodgers were 46-11 when hitting two or more home runs in a game. Corey Seager (Sept. 26), Trea Turner (Sept. 26) and
Muncy (May 30) all tallied their 100th homers this season. The Dodger infielders tallied 132 homers this season, finishing third in the Majors behind San Francisco (149) and Toronto (139) for infield homers.
All-Time Postseason vs. SF: Series tied, 1-1 (1-1 at Oracle Park)
All-Time vs. SF: LA trails series, 1,248-1,270-17 (285-235 at Dodger Stadium)
2020: Los Angeles won series, 6-4 (4-3 at Dodger Stadium)
2021: SF won series, 9-10 (4-5 at Dodger Stadium)
Game 1 at SF: L, 0-4 W: Webb L: Buehler
BORN TO RUN: The Dodgers led the Majors with a +269 run differential, 59 better than the next best team (San Francisco +210). The +269 run differential represented the second best in franchise history, trailing only the 2019 (+273) team. Their +269 run differential ranks eighth all-time in National League History (Since 1900):
National League Run Differential
1902 Pittsburgh Pirates 335 (775 Scored/440 Allowed)
1906 Chicago Cubs 323 (704/381)
1944 St Louis Cardinals 282 (772/490)
1942 St. Louis Cardinals 275 (755/480)
1905 San Francisco Giants 275 (780/505)
2019 Los Angeles Dodgers 273 (886/613)
1904 San Francisco Giants 270 (744/474)
2021 Los Angeles Dodgers 269 (830/561)
Los Angeles led National League with 830 runs scored and led the Majors with 561 runs allowed. The Dodgers have led the NL in runs scored and runs allowed four straight seasons, which is tied for the longest such streak by a team leading its league in both categories since the Yankees (1936-39) The Dodgers have led the National League in run differential since 2017 and their +1149 run differential
leads all of baseball in the last five years:
Major League Run Differential Leaders (Since 2017)
Los Angeles Dodgers +1149
Houston Astros +971
Cleveland Indians +666
New York Yankees +649
Boston Red Sox +624
The next closest NL team in run differential is the Chicago Cubs (+483), which represents +666 run difference in favor of Los Angeles. All other teams in the NL West have a negative run differential in the five-year span, SF (-32), Arizona (-106), Colorado (-171) and San Diego (-448).
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.
RUBBER ARMS: Dodger relievers posted a 3.16 ERA, finishing second in the Majors behind San Francisco (2.99). The Los Angeles
bullpen held opponents to a .205 average (1st, MLB) and posted a 1.19 WHIP, third best in the Majors. Dodgers’ relievers led the Majors with 59 saves and their 67.5 save percentage was third best in the Majors. Post All-Star Break, Dodger relievers led the Majors
in saves (27), WHIP (1.10), Opp. Avg. (.190), Opp. SLG (.310), Opp. OPS (.594) and inherited runners strand rate (85%). Kenley Jansen finished the campaign with 38 saves in 43 tries with a 2.22 ERA (17 ER/69.0 IP) and 86 strikeouts. He recorded his 350th save as a Dodger, which is an on-going franchise record and ranks 13th all-time in Major League history. In his last 30 games after blowing three consecutive saves from July 18-22, he went 3-0 with 17 saves and a 1.17 ERA (4 ER/30.2 IP) with 42 strikeouts. Blake Treinen led the team in games (72) and posted a 6- 5 record with a 1.99 ERA and seven saves. His 1.99 ERA ranked ninth in the Majors for relievers with 50+ games, while ranking amongst relief leaders in games (T-8th) and Opp. Avg. (11th, .179).
REDTOBER: Dodger third baseman and postseason standout Justin Turner finished the campaign tying his career-high of 27 homers (also, 2016) while driving in 87 runs and hitting .278 in 151 games. The two-time All-Star finished his eighth season in Dodger Blue and has slashed .298/.379/.498 with 143 homers and 493 RBI in 947 games as a Dodger. He recorded his 150th career homer on September 30 against the Padres and recorded his 500th career RBI on April 5 at Oakland. In 75 postseason games (all with the Dodgers), Turner has hit .285 (80-for-281) with 13 homers, 19 doubles and a .877 OPS. He holds the Dodger postseason records in homers, doubles, hits and RBI. He clubbed his 13th postseason homer in the Wild Card Game, which is tied for fourth alltime in NL History, and trails only Albert Pujols (18), Carlos Beltran (16) and Jayson Worth (15). In 131 career games against the Giants (including playoffs), he is a .285 hitter (121-for-424) with 14 homers and 53 RBI.
THE DOCTOR IS IN: Dave Roberts is now a perfect 6-for-6 in postseason appearances, becoming the first National League manager in history to lead his team to the playoffs in his first six seasons and is the first to accomplish the feat since Joe Torre led the Yankees to the playoffs in his first 12 seasons at the helm. Under Roberts, the Dodgers have posted a Major League best 541-329 (.622) record since 2016.
Last season, he led the Dodgers to the 2020 World Series Championship, becoming the first African-American manager of a World Series-winning team since Cito Gaston and the first manager of Asian heritage to win the World Series. He has led the Dodgers to two 106-win seasons, and in his six seasons at the helm, he is averaging 90.3 wins a season, which included the 60-game season that resulted in 43 wins. He has won the NL West five of six seasons and became the first manager in franchise history to win 100 games
three times, besting Hall of Famers Walter Alston (1962 and 1974) and Leo Durocher (1941 and ’42). In the 2020 playoffs, Roberts became the winningest postseason manager in franchise history, surpassing Hall of Famer Tommy Lasorda with his 32nd postseason win in Game 5 of the NLCS against the Braves. He has 40 postseason wins, which is tied for sixth all-time in Major League Baseball history with Terry Francona and currently ranks tied for second amongst active managers, trailing only Tommy LaRussa (70).
BIG BOSS MAN: Dodger President of Baseball Operations Andrew Friedman assembled his seventh straight postseason team with the Dodgers and eighth straight (2013 Tampa Bay Rays) overall. He triggered the midseason trade that brought Max Scherzer and Trea Turner to Los Angeles on July 30, which resulted in the best record in the Majors from August 1 on (43-13, .768). Since taking over the top spot in baseball operations, Freidman’s Dodger teams have gone 634-399 (.614) while setting the record for most wins in Los Angeles Dodger history in 2019 and 2021 (106, franchise record). He has won the NL West six of his seven years and has made it to the WS in three of his six tries with the Dodgers.
RHP Max Scherzer: 15-4, 2.46 in 30 GS | 0-0, 2.08 ERA in 1 PS GS
Regular Season Single-Game Highs
2021 Career
IP 9.0 (5/2 vs MIA) 9.0 (10x)
ER 7 (7/8 at SD) 10 (2x, last: 6/17/14 KC at DET)
SO 14 (5/8 at NYY) 20 (5/11/16 DET at WSH)
BB 4 (5/19 at CHC) 7 (4/29/12 DET at NYY)
Regular Season Career vs. Giants
2021 Career
Totals 0-0, 0.00 ERA (0 ER/0.1 IP)-1 GS 4-5, 3.84 ERA (25 ER/58.2 IP)-11 GS
At LA — —
At SF — 3-2, 3.30 ERA (11 ER/30.0 IP)-5 GS
RHP Max Scherzer: 15-4, 2.46 in 30 GS | 0-0, 2.08 ERA in 1 PS GS
2021 Postseason:
▪ Is 0-0 with a 2.08 ERA (1 ER/4.1 IP) in one start…started Wednesday’s Wild Card Game against the Cardinals, allowing one run on three hits in 4.1 innings in a no-decision…walked three, struck out four and threw 94 pitches in the Dodgers’ eventual 3-1 walk-off win
2021 Regular Season:
▪ Acquired on July 30 with Trea Turner from the Washington Nationals in exchange for catcher Keibert Ruiz, pitchers Josiah Gray and Gerardo Carrillo and outfielder Donovan Casey…has gone 7-0 with a 1.98 ERA (15 ER/68.10 IP) in 11 starts with Los Angeles
▪ The three-time Cy Young Award winner was selected to his eighth All-Star team this year and made the start for Dave Roberts’ NL squad
▪ Enters his start on an 11-game winning streak, going 11-0 with a 2.54 ERA (31 ER/110.0 IP) in his last 19 starts since June 4
▪ Had a streak of 37.2 innings without allowing an earned run from Aug. 21-Sept. 23, allowing one unearned run during the streak
▪ Picked up his 3,000th career strikeout on Sept. 12 against the Padres, becoming the 19th all-time player to do so
▪ Led the Majors in WHIP (0.86) and opponents’ batting average (.185), and also ranked among the best in ERA (2nd) and strikeouts (4th)
▪ Has 236 strikeouts, his ninth 200-strikeout season…tied for the fifth most seasons of 200+ strikeouts all time with Justin Verlander, Pedro Martinez and Bob Gibson, behind only: Nolan Ryan (15), Randy Johnson (13), Roger Clemens (12) and Tom Seaver (10)
▪ Limited opponents to a .159/.226/.280 SLG slashline with runners on base and a MLB-best .131 average with RISP (13-for-99)
Career vs. Giants:
▪ Previously faced the Giants once in the Postseason, starting Game 4 of the 2012 World Series with the Tigers…allowed three runs on seven hits in 6.1 innings in a no-decision, an eventual 4-3 series-clinching win for the Giants
▪ Has gone 4-5 with a 3.84 ERA (25 ER/58.2 IP) in 11 career starts against the Giants, including a 3-2 mark with a 3.30 ERA (11 ER/30.0 IP) in five starts at Oracle Park
▪ Exited his only 2021 start against San Francisco after 12 pitches (0.1 IP) with right triceps discomfort…it’s his only start against the Giants since 2018
Career Postseason:
▪ Has a 7-5 career record with a 3.33 ERA (42 ER/116.1 IP) in 23 games (19 starts) in Postseason play
▪ Went 3-0 with a 2.40 ERA (8 ER/30.0 IP) in six games (five starts) during the Nationals’ run to a World Championship in 2019…started Washington’s Wild Card game against Milwaukee, allowing three runs in 5.0 innings in a no-decision
