INSIDE THE MATCHUPS

LOS ANGELES — Consolation to Yankees fans: You got beat by a better team.

Which means, in turn, that we have ourselves a superior World Series, if not a juicier one, to a renewal of the long-dormant Yankees-Dodgers October rivalry. Now that the Astros, winner of 101 regular-season games, have dispatched of the Yankees, they’ll face the 104-win Dodgers, giving us the first Fall Classic of dueling 100-plus-victory teams since Brooks Robinson and the 108-54 Orioles topped the 102-60 Reds in 1970.

Let’s break down the matchups:

AT THE PLATE

GETTING ON BASE: These two clubs have embraced near-opposite philosophies in building superb offenses. The Astros, who led the industry with a .346 on-base percentage, swing the bat. They recorded a major league-leading 1,581 hits. The Dodgers, whose .334 OBP ranked third in the National League, exercise patience. Their 649 walks topped the big leagues. Which approach works better this time of year? Well, so far this SLIGHT postseason, the Dodgers have EDGE averaged six runs per game and the Astros four runs per game. Jose Altuve, who posted a regular-season .410 OBP and is at .500 for the playoffs, paces Houston, while former Met Justin Turner, with a .415 regular-season OBP and co-Most Valuable Player honors in the NLCS, drives the Dodgers’ offense. Astros shortstop Carlos Correa (.391 OBP) makes for a darn good second-best hitter, as does his Dodgers counterpart Corey Seager (.375), except that Seager missed the NLCS with back and elbow issues and his World Series usefulness is in doubt. HITTING FOR POWER: Both clubs dig the long ball, even as Dodger Stadium is historically a pitchers’ park and Minute Maid Park has somehow become one. The Dodgers set a franchise record with 221 homers,

led by rookie Cody Bellinger’s 39. Six guys launched 20 or more. The Astros, whose 238 homers trailed only the Yankees in the American League, led the majors with a .478 slugging percentage and 346 doubles. While only four of their players passed the 20 mark, a staggering 11 reached double-digits.

ON THE BASEPATHS: Right in line with the Astros taking a less-sabermetric route to offensive success and the Dodgers being more orthodox, Houston swipes a few more bases, 98 to LA’s 77. Altuve, with 32 steals, easily represents the biggest threat in the Series. The Astros take a few more risks and are more likely to get caught; the Dodgers registered a modest 3.2 base-running runs, SLIGHT as per Baseball Prospectus’ EDGE calculations, whereas the Astros were at -2.8. Yankees fans know all too well that, with Brian McCann and

Carlos Beltran, pinch runners might be required in a late-innings situation.

IN THE FIELD

INFIELD DEFENSE: Seager’s health comes into play here, too. If he can play shortstop for the Dodgers, at his standard level, then that gives the Dodgers more oomph in this category than if they have to turn to Charlie Culberson or Turner’s co-NLCS MVP Chris Taylor. Correa, the Astros’ shortstop, and his double-play EDGE partner, Altuve, make Houston superb up the middle. Turner and his Astros counterpart, Alex Bregman, play solid defense at third base, whereas neither first baseman, Bellinger or the Astros’ Yuri Gurriel, gets in the lineup because of his glove. OUTFIELD DEFENSE: This won’t go down as either team’s strong suit, and the Dodgers’ outfield depends — as does everything, seemingly — on Seager’s health, as Taylor can EDGE play center field if Seager can start at shortstop. The Dodgers will turn to a diverse quartet ( Andre Ethier, Enrique Hernandez, former Met Curtis Granderson and Joc Pederson) to help out, and none is great with the glove. Dodgers right fielder Yasiel Puig performs the best defensively for his unit, as does Astros center fielder George Springer, who should be flanked mostly by Josh Reddick in right field and Marwin Gonzalez in left.

BENCH

Many of the Dodgers guys already have earned mention here because of how much manager Dave Roberts utilizes his entire roster. October Jedi master Chase

Utley will be available as well. The Astros will have their own sage in Beltran, although they’re likely to get more out of Evan Gattis (most likely to EDGE DH in the games at Minute Maid). Outfielder Cameron Maybin could get some action against the Dodgers’ extensive lefty starting pitching.

ON THE MOUND

ROTATION: The Astros have two former Cy Young Award winners in Game 1 starter Dallas Keuchel and Game 2 starter Justin Verlander. The Dodgers can counter with Game 1 starter Clayton

Kershaw, whose three Cy Young trophies alone top Houston’s combined two, and their next three starters — Rich Hill,

Yu Darvish and Alex Wood — give the Dodgers arguably superior overall quality when you factor in that the Astros likely will go with Charlie Morton and Lance McCullers Jr. in Games 3 and 4.

BULLPEN: If you watched the ALCS, you know Astros manager A.J. Hinch trusts his bullpen about as much as Mike Ehrmentraut trusted Walter White in “Breaking Bad.” Even closer Ken Giles ran into his share of problems against the Yankees. Whereas the Dodgers feel so good about their relief unit that Roberts will lift even Kershaw to start the bullpen wheel. Closer Kenley Jansen might be the game’s best and he gets nice support from bat-missing guys like lefties

Tony Cingrani and Tony Watson

and righties Kenta Maeda and Brandon Morrow.

MANAGER

Both Roberts and Hinch are managing in their second postseasons and their first World Series. Both have established reputations as new-wave skippers, guys with big-league service time who also know how to incorporate analytics and play nice with the media.

INTANGIBLES

The Dodgers, one of the game’s most storied franchises, are enjoying their first World Series since 1988 and wear the pressure of sporting the game’s highest payroll. The Astros, born in 1962, have never won it all and are playing in the Fall Classic for only the second time. The Astros also have been galvanized by Hurricane Harvey’s devastation of the greater Houston area, prompting them to wear “Houston Strong” patches on their uniforms. The disparity between the Dodgers’ bullpen and the Astros’ relief corps will allow the Dodgers’ arms to wear down the Astros’ big bats and give the Dodgers a chance to win games late — even Game 6 after Verlander departs.