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The San Francisco Giants and Los Angeles Dodgers will face each other in the postseason for the first time ever when their NLDS series begins on Friday. The Giants won the NL West by one game during the regular season and were able to secure home field advantage throughout the playoffs. The Dodgers beat the St. Louis Cardinals in the NL Wild Card game on a walk-off HR by Chris Taylor in the 9th inning. The Giants enter this series as underdogs despite securing the best record in the Majors this season.
Let’s take a look at how the season series turned out.
Who won season series between Dodgers-Giants?
Giants 10-9 over Dodgers
The Giants won the season series against the Dodgers by a hair. LA had the edge in the first half, going 6-3 against San Fran before the All-Star break. The Giants took all three series in the second half — 3-1, 2-1 and 2-1. This was big in securing the division title and home field in the NLDS and throughout.
The biggest pitching split that could impact this series is Anthony DeSclafani vs. the Dodgers. He was absolutely shelled in six starts, allowing 22 ER, 6 HRs and 15 BB in 27 IP, finishing 0-3. Luckily, the Giants will start the series with Logan Webb (2.25 ERA in 16 IP vs. LAD) and Kevin Gausman (3.21 ERA in 14 IP).
The Dodgers have Walker Buehler and Julio Urias going 1-2 in the series, which bodes well. Buehler dominated the Giants in six starts, sporting a 2.19 ERA with 33 Ks over 37 IP. Five of his six starts were considered quality. Urias had a 3.38 ERA in five starts vs. the Giants. The biggest issue for the Dodgers is closer Kenley Jansen, who allowed 9 ER and 8 BB to the Giants in 6.2 IP in the regular season.
The Dodgers are really going to be missing Muncy in this matchup. He had 8 HRs in 67 ABs against San Fran in 2021. As a team, the Dodgers hit .210 against the Giants in 19 games during the regular season. Will Smith was LA’s best hitter vs. SF not named Muncy, belting 3 HRs with 10 RBI while batting .275.
The Giants had much more success as a team against the Dodgers in the regular season. Wilmer Flores, Lamonte Wade Jr., and Brandon Crawford all hit over .300 vs. LAD. Buster Posey hit .294 with 3 HRs and 9 RBI over 51 ABs. The core of the Giants order combined for 19 doubles against the Dodgers during the season series.