The San Francisco Giants were victorious in the NL Wild Card game last night against the Pittsburgh Pirates and they will now face the top-seeded Washington Nationals in the NLDS. Game 1 is set for 3:07 p.m. on Friday at Nationals Park.
Nationals manager Matt Williams announced today that Stephen Strasburg will be starting Game 1 against San Francisco. It will be Strasburg's first career postseason start because the last time the Nats made the playoffs in 2012, Strasburg was shut down in September as a precautionary measure to manage the Tommy John procedure he underwent the year before. But the right-hander has started a career-high 34 games this season and is ready for postseason action.
The Nationals earned home-field advantage until the World Series because the team posted an NL-best 96-66 record. This bodes well for Strasburg, who is 9-3 with a 2.56 ERA in 18 starts at home compared to 5-8 with a 3.82 ERA on the road. After Strasburg, Jordan Zimmermann will start Game 2 (in Washington) and Doug Fister will start Game 3 (in San Francisco). Williams did not declare a starter for Game 4, but it's expected to be left-hander Gio Gonzalez. The Nationals are looking to bounce back after their collapse in Game 5 of the 2012 NLDS against the St. Louis Cardinals.
And although the Nationals have one of the best starting rotations in the MLB, the San Francisco Giants have extensive postseason experience. Manager Bruce Bochy is 8-1 all-time in playoff series and the last two postseason appearances for the Giants resulted in World Series championships. The Nationals' 2012 postseason appearance was their first since 1933 (for a Washington D.C. team), while the Giants are currently riding an eight-game playoff winning streak. The team proved their postseason dominance yet again last night when they defeated the Pirates 8-0 on the road in the NL Wild Card game.
The Giants will likely send veteran Jake Peavy to the mound to face Strasburg on Friday. Since being acquired from the Boston Red Sox, Peavy has compiled a 6-4 record in 12 starts with a 2.17 ERA and 1.04 WHIP, including a 3-0 record with a 1.44 ERA in September to close out the regular season. The right-hander has playoff experience, but hasn't had much success over the years. In five postseason starts with the San Diego Padres and Boston Red Sox, Peavy is 0-3 with a 9.27 ERA and 1.93 WHIP.
If Bochy feels uneasy about Peavy's performance in the playoffs, he could opt to go with the 16-year veteran Tim Hudson, who has a much better postseason track record. In 10 total appearances (nine starts), Hudson is 1-3 with a 3.46 ERA and 1.35 WHIP. His losing record and high WHIP can be attributed to two poor outings - one against Minnesota in 2002 and another against Houston in 2005. He received losses in two starts where he pitched at least seven innings and gave up three runs and was also tagged with a no-decision in his last playoff start in 2010, during which he tossed seven scoreless innings.
Nonetheless, the Giants will bring their momentum into Washington, where the Nationals look to move on from 2012's disaster.
