All season long, the Los Angeles Dodgers found themselves chasing the San Francisco Giants. The Giants were the first to every major wins milestone — 70, 80, 90, 100 — but the Dodgers were right behind them. San Francisco’s eventual total of 107 wins bested the Dodgers by one, earning them the N.L. West title. But if you include postseason wins going into Thursday’s decisive Game 5, they each have 109, since Los Angeles picked one up in the wild-card game.
Regardless of how Game 5 plays out, the first true postseason matchup between these rivals since 1889 has lived up to expectations, and is the only division series that will have required the teams to go the distance.
What’s at stake?
The winner of tonight’s division series game will advance to the N.L.C.S. where they should be heavily favored against Atlanta. That potential launching pad to the World Series is great, but when you consider that a three-game regular season tiebreaker between these teams back in 1951 — in a season in which the winning team did not go on to win the World Series — has been talked about in reverent tones ever since, you would have to imagine some serious bragging rights are also on the line.
How can I watch?
The game is scheduled to begin at 9:07 Eastern and will be broadcast on TBS. Services like Hulu Live and FuboTV will have the TBS stream available, and the game will be available for certain cable subscribers through TBS.com. The New York Times will begin live analysis of the game shortly before the first pitch.
Who is pitching?
The stars aligned for a terrific pitching matchup, with Julio Urias on the mound for the Dodgers and Logan Webb starting for the Giants. Urias started Game 2 against San Francisco and allowed one run in five innings as the Dodgers won, 9-2. Webb, who was a breakout performer this year, made his postseason debut in Game 1 of this series and held the Dodgers scoreless for seven and two-thirds innings.
How are the hitters doing?
When you consider the pitching talent on both sides, offense can be hard to come by in games between these teams. In the four games played so far, the Dodgers’ best hitter has been catcher Will Smith, who is 6 for 15 with two home runs and three R.B.I. The Giants’ top hitter has been Kris Bryant, a midseason pickup from the Chicago Cubs, who is 6 for 13 with one homer.
The coldest hitters so far are Justin Turner of the Dodgers, who is 1 for 17 and Mike Yastrzemski of the Giants, who is 0 for 12.
