The Giants and Dodgers will kick off a key series tonight at 9:45 ET at Oracle Park that could determine how October will look like for these two clubs. The three-game series is the last match between the top two sets in the National League in the regular season. They both come to the confrontation with identical marks of 85-49.
In addition to having huge implications for the playoffs, this series offers us something never seen since the Major Leagues adopted the divisional system in 1969: A clash between division rivals of this caliber so advanced in a season.
This duel in San Francisco will be the Free Game of the Day on MLB.TV., Which will allow fans the opportunity to tune into the toughest fight of all this September.
There has been a lot of talk about the Giants ’unexpected rise as one of the Majors’ elite teams this year, but let’s look at it from the standpoint of the FanGraphs playoff chances. Looking ahead to the Opening Day, the Giants had a 5.7% chance of reaching the postseason. The Dodgers had 98.4% and the Parents 92.3%. Instead, the Giants and Dodgers now have a 100% chance of qualifying (though they haven’t officially tied the pace), while the Parents have been below 50% since Aug. 16.
Now these two teams measure strengths in a series they reach with identical percentages of cattle and losses of 634, the best of the Majors. This is just the second time in the divisional era that two teams will face cattle and lost percentages of .630 or better after playing 130 games or more in a campaign.
The Yankees and Dodgers did so from August 23-25, 2019, at Dodger Stadium. But the Yankees and Dodgers are not even in the same league, let alone in the same division. This means that this clash between the Dodgers and Giants is the first of its kind among rivals in the same division (since 1969).