LEADING OFF: Dodgers-Giants in NLDS winner-take-all Game 5
SAN FRANCISCO - Sooner than many baseball fans wanted, maybe, but the San Francisco Giants and the Los Angeles Dodgers will meet in a winner-take-all Game 5 of the NL Division Series at Oracle Park.
Logan Webb, who was dominant in winning the opener for the Giants, faces Julio Urías, who led the majors with 20 victories and got the victory in Game 2.
At this point, both teams have posted 109 wins this season. Perhaps this matchup would’ve been even better in the NL Championship Series with a trip to the World Series at stake — no matter, Mookie Betts and the defending champion Dodgers are set to take on Buster Posey and the Giants.
"I think it’s only fitting," Dodgers pitcher Walker Buehler said.
The longtime rivals who began playing each other in 1884 share a star-studded history of meeting in all-of-nothing games.
In the decisive Game 3 of a 1951 NL pennant tiebreaker, Bobby Thomson hit what many consider the most famous home run ever when he connected for the "Shot ’Heard Round the World," a three-run drive in the bottom of the ninth that lifted the New York Giants over Jackie Robinson and the Brooklyn Dodgers 5-4 at the Polo Grounds.
The franchises had shifted to the West Coast when they played a best-of-three matchup for the 1962 NL pennant. After topping Los Angeles ace Sandy Koufax in the opener, San Francisco lost the next day. Mays then keyed a four-run rally in the ninth inning to win 6-4 in Game 3 at Dodger Stadium.
Fleet Week, Giants and Warriors at once: San Francisco officials recommend public transit
It's going to be a busy weekend in San Francisco. On Friday alone, the Giants series against the Dodgers begins, along with the Blue Angels air show for Fleet Week and a Warriors game at the Chase Center. Officials say to plan ahead and are highly recommending public transit.