It’s come down to one game for the Washington Nationals and the Los Angeles Dodgers. The winner on Thursday night’s NLDS Game 5 will move on to face the red-hot Chicago Cubs in the 2016 National League Championship Series.
With a 6-5 win against the San Francisco Giants Tuesday night, the Chicago Cubs secured their third and final National League Division Series (NLDS) victory, bringing them one step closer to ending a 108-year World Series dry spell.
The Cubs will have home-field advantage in the NLCS, which begins this Saturday.
While the Cubs succeeded in shutting out the Giants once and for all Tuesday night, the Dodgers gave the Nats a run for their money, winning Game 4 of the series and evening the series score to 2-2.
Aside from having the home-field advantage in Game 5, the Nationals will have Cy Young Award (for best National League pitcher) favorite Max Scherzer starting on the mound.
While Scherzer is confident he can lead the Nats to victory, he’s said quite a few times since the Dodgers tied up the series that “anything can happen” and that Thursday night’s game will be one of the biggest starts of his career.
“This is probably the biggest start of my career, the biggest start of my life,” Scherzer told the press after learning he would lead off the deciding game of the NLDS.
“Anything can happen in Game 5,” he continued. “So you’ve got to be ready for anything and everything, be able to go out there and win every type of game. Every inning, every pitch you’ve got to have the utmost focus to execute your pitches. Because anything can happen in a one-game playoff.”
When asked about their own concerns for the final NLDS game, the Dodgers seemed confident about their chances, even in the face of Scherzer’s starting appointment.
“We beat him once already. We know we can do it,’’ Dodgers first baseman Adrian Gonzalez said despite a low record against Scherzer, USA Today reported. “We put some pretty good at-bats against him in Game 1 and we’re confident that we can do that again.’’
Despite LA players’ confidence that they can take Scherzer on, the team may suffer because their own all-star Rich Hill has only had three days rest.
Tune in Thursday night to see the final game of the 2016 National League Division Series and to find out who will face the Cubs in the Championship Series.
How to Watch the Nationals v. Dodgers Game 5:
The Washington Nationals will play the Los Angeles Dodgers on Thursday, October 13th at 8:00 p.m. ET in Washington, DC.
In order to watch the games online, fans can use the Fox Sports GO website (or app for mobile viewing), but access requires a valid login through a cable provider. Games are also available for streaming on TBS Sports and you can find even more ways to watch without a cable login from Cut Cable Today.
You can also find the full postseason schedule, along with the latest baseball news at MLB.com.
And, just a reminder, the ALCS playoffs begin on Friday, October 14th at 8:00 p.m. ET in Cleveland and the NLCS playoffs begin on Saturday, October 15th 8:00 p.m. ET in Chicago.
The first game of the 2016 World Series is set for October 25th.