The National League Division Series (NLDS) comes to Chavez Ravine Monday night for Game 3 between the LA Dodgers and San Francisco Giants. The teams are tied 1-1 in the best-of-five series. The winner will move on to the league championship series against the winner of the Atlanta Braves vs. Milwaukee Brewers face-off.
The longstanding rivalry between the two California teams goes well beyond a rivalry between the cities of San Francisco and LA, according to Petros Papadakis, co-host of “Peetros and Money” on AM 570 LA Sports.
“It’s bigger than that,” he says, noting that both teams moved west from New York City in 1957. “They came out to California, confounding a whole universe of fans in the East. They were pioneers in that way. This rivalry is a huge part of expanding the sport to become what we call America's pastime.”
These two teams have never before played each other in the postseason, and that’s hyping up fans.
“There’d be no Dodgers without the Giants, and vice versa,” says Papadakis. “We need the rivalry. We love the fact that these two teams are playing in the playoffs.”
Two Dodgers who won’t be on the field tonight are pitcher Clayton Kershaw and infielder Max Muncy, who are both out with elbow issues.
“Kershaw, he's done for the year,” says Dodger Blue managing editor Matt Moreno. “He told us before Game 1 that he received a PRP [platelet-rich plasma] injection to treat what the team is continuing to say is just a flexor tendon issue. His expectation remains that he's not going to need surgery, but he definitely is out for the rest of October.”
He predicts we won’t see Muncy in the NLDS or the National League Championship Series (NLCS), either.
“I think even the World Series is a little bit of a long shot,” says Moreno. “Along with the dislocation, there was some damage to the elbow.”
Max Muncy on #Dodgers losing him and Clayton Kershaw in span of 3 days:
— Matthew Moreno (@MMoreno1015) October 6, 2021
"It's not great. ... We have a special group, a lot of depth, a lot of talent. This team is going to go out there and fight to the death, and me and Kersh are going to be there cheering as loud as anybody."
Series predictions:
“If the Dodgers win tonight, they take the series in [Game] 4. However, if they lose tonight, I think they'd be in danger of losing the series in Game 5,” says Moreno.
“I think we're gonna see two fired-up pitchers, two guys that are going to really tear into the lineups, and it's going to be knock-down, drag-out, pins-and-needles type of nail biter,” says Papadakis.