NLDS clash intensifies Giants-Dodgers rivalry
SAN FRANCISCO — Mookie Betts is ready to throw out all the wins his Dodgers and the rival Giants piled up on the way to a frenetic regular-season finish.
San Francisco edged defending World Series champion Los Angeles by a single game for first place in the NL West, 107 victories to 106 — a total of 213 wins between them.
It’s a new playoff stage now, with baseball’s two hottest teams in a best-of-five NL Division Series. Game 1 will be Friday night at Oracle Park.
“I think all the 106 games are out the window now. It didn’t help us win the division, so it’s really irrelevant,” Betts said after the Dodgers beat the Cardinals 3-1 Wednesday night in the NL wild-card game to set up this instant NLDS classic. “We’re in the spot we are now. We’ve got to play the hand we’re dealt . ... Obviously, use what you learned in 106 wins. You just try and apply it to now. Other than that, those 106 are irrelevant.”
And no doubt you can take this rivalry up a notch or two before the first pitch is even thrown, because the Dodgers and Giants are meeting on the postseason stage for the first time.
“This series is going to be a mad house at both places,” Giants third baseman Evan Longoria said Thursday.
The storied franchises go way, way back to their memorable New York days.
In 1951 and 1962, the clubs faced off in best-of-three NL tiebreakers, with the Giants winning both times.
They were about as even as you can get meeting headto-head this year: San Francisco won the season series 10-9, while the Dodgers outscored the Giants 80-78.
Los Angeles had won the previous eight division titles.
“For me it kind of felt like this was how it was going to end up anyway,” Giants outfielder Mike Yastrzemski said. “I felt like I didn’t even have to watch the game to figure out who we were going to play.”
Dodgers manager Dave Roberts realizes this is the matchup of playoff matchups everybody longed to see after all these teams did to get here.
“There’s a lot of familiarity, which makes it fun, even more challenging,” Roberts said. “It’s going to be a fantastic series.”
Longoria said he wished these teams could play a bit deeper in October and not face an early exit.
“I feel like this may also be a series or a moment where baseball may have to think about restructuring the way that the playoffs happen — 106 and 107 wins doesn’t feel like a [NL]DS matchup,” Longoria said. “Especially ’cause the season is so long, for two teams to win that many games and then one of them to have to go home this early.”
Told of Longoria’s take, Giants manager Gabe Kapler stayed straight.
“We want to be good with whatever the rules are,” Kapler said.