It’s Strasburg vs. Buehler as Nats, Dodgers settle it

Washington — Stephen Strasburg's 2012 shutdown is a distant memory by now.

This sort of setting and stakes — Game 5 against the Los Angeles Dodgers, with the outcome of the NL Division Series on the line — is exactly why the Washington Nationals protected the pitcher they drafted No. 1 overall all those years ago.

Strasburg will get the ball for visiting wild card Washington, and Walker Buehler will be on the mound for league-best LA tonight in the finale of the best-of-five series.

"Better to be at home than on the road in Game 5," Dodgers first baseman Cody Bellinger said.

The Dodgers are trying to reach the NL Championship Series for the fourth consecutive year, while the Nationals have never won a playoff series since the franchise moved from Montreal to Washington in 2005.

"We've got their big horse against one of our horses," Nationals catcher Kurt Suzuki said.

Good starts

Each starter already had a fantastic outing to earn a win in the series: Buehler gave up just one hit while tossing six scoreless innings in Game 1; Strasburg struck out 10 and allowed one run in six innings in Game 2. NATIONALS AT DODGERS 8:30 p.m., Dodger Stadium (TBS)

That lowered Strasburg's postseason ERA to 0.64, the lowest for anyone with at least four career starts.

"It's something that you train for, you dream about as a kid," he said, "and you want to have those opportunities to just see how your stuff stacks up."

It's the sort of production Washington was envisioning when general manager Mike Rizzo held the righty out of the playoffs seven seasons ago, a year after Strasburg had Tommy John surgery.

"Try not to look in the past. Try not to look in the future. Really just try and be in the moment," Strasburg said when asked about 2012 on Monday night, after Washington beat Los Angeles 6-1 in Game 4 to force a Game 5. "Once you start thinking about how things could have been or what things might happen, it takes your focus away from what your job is."

Buehler will be making his sixth postseason start; he is 1-1 with a 3.03 ERA. Last year, he appeared in one game in the NLDS, two in the NLCS and one in the World Series, where the Dodgers lost to the Boston Red Sox.

"Something I'm familiar with," he said of the pressure of the playoffs, "and getting to do it at home certainly helps."