The Dodgers and Giants will go at it 1 more time this season with everything on the line. After San Francisco took a game lead over them, Los Angeles came back in a big way on Wednesday night in Game 4.
Now the series turns to San Francisco as the Dodgers look to move on the to Championship Series against Atlanta. The good news is that Los Angeles is coming off of a big win and rolling into the next game. But with everything on the line, there are a few things to watch out for.
Logan Webb Dealing Again
The last time the Dodgers faced Logan Webb, things went very poorly. The young righty tossed 7.2 scoreless innings and gave up just 5 hits while punching out 10. They have to make him work early and get his pitch count up, but they also need to hit pitches in the zone.
It will be a fine line that they’ll be walking as they try to knock Webb out of this one early. The Giants will have all-hands-on-deck in this one with Kevin Gausman and Alex Wood both available in relief behind Webb.
Dodgers Offense Stalling Out
The Dodgers offense has put up 16 runs in 4 games during this Division Series. The problem is that they have been shut out in 2 of those games. So while the bats have shown that they can indeed come alive, they’ve stalled out far too often.
Dodgers Related: Gavin Lux Will Be in the Game 5 Lineup
Stalling out in Game 5 would be the dagger for the Dodgers. Los Angeles needs guys like Mookie Betts, Corey Seager, and Trea Turner to get things going at the top of the order. Those 3 have combined for 3 hits in 23 at-bats during the 2 losses.
While they haven’t been much better during the wins, they’ve been good enough to get the job done.
Umpiring
The bad news is that the Dodgers will have another questionable umpire behind homeplate. Doug Eddings ranks near the bottom of the barrel for MLB umpire accuracy in 2021, and he’ll be calling balls and strikes on Thursday night.
Let’s hope that if he’s off again, he’s at least consistent with it.
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