The Washington Nationals face elimination as their NLDS moves to San Francisco. Doug Fister battles Madison Bumgarner. This is Fister’s fourth straight post season. He’s made seven starts and one long relief appearance. He owns a 2.98 ERA overall, but 2.06 as a starter, as his one relief appearance was a disaster. He did pitch well in his start in San Francisco during the 2012 World Series, allowing one run in six innings, but took the loss. His opponent that day was Madison Bumgarner, who pitched seven shutout innings.

That’s pretty much been the script for the Nationals in the first two games. The starters pitched well, but the offense could not generate many runs. It should be noted, however, that on June 10th of this year, it was Fister who came out on top in a 2-1 game, beating Bumgarner.

The Dodgers and Cardinals take the field later tied at one in the five game series. Hyun-jin Ryu takes on John Lackey. Ryu owns a better ERA on the road this season. Given his three true outcome rates, it’s tough to say why. He simply allowed a much lower batting average on the road, so it could just be bad luck at home, or good luck away. Lackey is susceptible to the home run ball, having allowed 24 dingers in 198 innings in 2014, nine of those in 60 2/3 innings with the Cardinals. Lackey has kept the ball in the park in his post-season history, however, allowing just four home runs in 104 innings. Last year for Boston he made four starts and five appearances, not allowing a home run in 26 innings and recording a 2.70 ERA as he helped the Red Sox win the World Series.

Enjoy!