The Dodgers will get a first crack at advancing to the next round of the Major League Baseball playoffs Wednesday evening when they meet the Reds in Game 2 of the Wild Card Series at Dodger Stadium.
Los Angeles’ offensive burst secured a 10-5 Game 1 victory in the best-of-three series. A win Tuesday night and the Dodgers advance to the National League Division Series against the Philadelphia Phillies.
Here’s what to know about Game 2.
Projected starters
The Dodgers will look to Yoshinobu Yamamoto (12-8, 2.49 ERA, 0.99 WHIP, 201 strikeouts) to start Game 2.
Yamamoto allowed one run and four hits with two walks and nine strikeouts in a 5-2 win July 28 over Cincinnati. The Reds and Dodgers split two games that Ohtani started.
Shohei Ohtani would like pitch Game 3, if necessary. Ohtani and Teoscar Hernandez both hit a pair of homers in Game 1.
On July 30 at Great American Ball Park, the two-way superstar pitched three-plus innings and yielded two runs on five hits and two walks with four strikeouts. On August 27, Ohtani pitched five innings and allowed one run and two hits with two walks and nine strikeouts in a 5-1 Dodgers victory.
Zack Littell (10-8, 3.81 ERA, 1.10 WHIP, 130 strikeouts) is the Reds’ probable starter.
Blake Snell pitched seven innings for the Dodgers and yielded two runs on just four hits with one walk and nine strikeouts.
Clayton Kershaw, who announced he will retire at the end of the season, will not be on the Dodgers’ roster for the Wild Card Series. Kershaw will be on the roster for the Division Series, if the Dodgers advance.
Dodgers-Reds series schedule
The entire best-of-three series will be played at Dodger Stadium and be televised on ESPN.
- Game 1: Dodgers 10, Reds 5
- Game 2: Wednesday, 6:08 p.m.
- Game 3 (If necessary): Thursday, 6:08 p.m., but would move to 4:38 p.m. if two or three of the other series end in sweeps.
The winner will advance to face the Eastern Division champion Phillies.
Injuries
Dodgers: Nick Frasso: 60-Day IL (undisclosed), Kirby Yates: 15-Day IL (hamstring), Michael Kopech: 15-Day IL (knee), Brock Stewart: 15-Day IL (shoulder), Tony Gonsolin: 60-Day IL (elbow), Evan Phillips: 60-Day IL (forearm), Kyle Hurt: 60-Day IL (elbow), Michael Grove: 60-Day IL (shoulder), Brusdar Graterol: 60-Day IL (shoulder), River Ryan: 60-Day IL (elbow), Gavin Stone: 60-Day IL (shoulder)
Reds: Rhett Lowder: 60-Day IL (forearm), Ian Gibaut: 60-Day IL (shoulder), Wade Miley: 60-Day IL (flexor), Carson Spiers: 60-Day IL (shoulder), Tyler Callihan: 60-Day IL (forearm), Brandon Williamson: 60-Day IL (elbow), Julian Aguiar: 60-Day IL (elbow)
How they got here
The Dodgers finished 93-69 with some struggles down the stretch that relegated the defending World Series champs to a No. 3 seed in the National League and wild card status. The team still won its 12th National League West title in 13 seasons and can turn to Shohei Ohtani on the mound after he was limited by injury to designated hitter last season.
The Dodgers finished with the third-best record in the National League. The Phillies (96-66) and Brewers (97-65) had the two best records in the NL, earning byes to the Division Series.
The Reds qualified for the final postseason spot with New York Mets’ 4-0 loss to the Miami Marlins Sunday, which ended the Mets’ chances of finishing the season with a better record than the Reds. Both teams finished the season 83-79, but Cincinnati received the National League’s third and final wild-card berth because it won the season series from New York, 4-2, the first tiebreaker.
The Reds lost to the Milwaukee Brewers, 4-2, in Milwaukee on Sunday, in a game completed 14 minutes before the Mets-Marlins game. The Reds have not been to the postseason after a 162-game season since 2013.
About the season series
The Dodgers were 5-1 against Cincinnati this season, including 3-0 at Dodger Stadium. Los Angeles swept the Reds in August. Cincinnati is 38-43 on the road this season.
About the MLB playoff format
There are 12 teams that make the postseason, including six teams from both the AL and NL. The three division winners in each league get seeds No. 1 through No. 3, ranked by win-loss record. The three wild-card teams get seeds No. 4 through No. 6, also ranked by win-loss record.
The top two teams with the best record in both the AL and NL automatically advance to the Division Series. The other eight teams play in the Wild Card Series. In both the AL and NL, the No. 6 seed will travel to face the No. 3 seed while the No. 5 seed goes to No. 4. The higher seed hosts all three games.
The winners then advance to the best-of-five Division Series, followed by the best-of-seven League Championship Series and a best-of-seven World Series between the winners of the AL and NL.
MLB postseason schedule
Wild Card Round: Sept. 30-Oct. 2 (ESPN)
Division Series: Oct. 4-11 (NL on TBS, AL on FOX/FS1)
Championship Series: Oct. 12-21 (NL on TBS, AL on FOX/FS1)
World Series: Oct. 24-Nov. 1 (FOX)