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San Diego Padres, Los Angeles Dodgers Set to Begin NLDS With Solid Starters

The San Diego Padres will deploy Dylan Cease as their starting pitcher and Yoshinobu Yamamoto will be on the bump for the Los Angeles Dodgers in Game 1 of the National League Divisional Series on Saturday.

Teren Kowatsch

Los Angeles Dodgers starting pitcher Yoshinobu Yamamoto throws during a game against the Colorado Rockies on Sept. 28 at Coors Field.
Los Angeles Dodgers starting pitcher Yoshinobu Yamamoto throws during a game against the Colorado Rockies on Sept. 28 at Coors Field. / Ron Chenoy-Imagn Images
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The San Diego Padres and Los Angeles Dodgers are set to begin Game 1 of a best-of-five National League Divisional Series on Saturday at 8:38 p.m. ET (5:38 p.m. PT) on Saturday.

The two teams are very familiar with each other as members of the National League West.

The Dodgers earned a bye as the No. 1 seed in the National League. They won the NL West with a 98-64 record, five games ahead of the Padres. Despite Los Angeles winning the division, San Diego owned the overall head-to-head record this season. The Padres took 8-of-13 against the Dodgers.

The two California-based rivals will write the next chapter of the rivalry with two capable starters on the mound.

Dylan Cease will get the start for San Diego and Yoshinobu Yamamoto will be on the mound for Los Angeles. It will be the third postseason appearance (second start) for Cease and the first postseason appearance and start for Yamamoto.

Cease this season posted a 3.47 ERA in 33 starts with 224 strikeouts in 189.1 innings pitched. He made two starts against the Dodgers this season with a 3.38 ERA and 10 strikeouts in 10.2 innings pitched.

Yamamoto, in his first major league season, made 18 starts for Los Angeles. He posted a 3.00 ERA with 105 strikeouts in 90 innings pitched. He made a pair of starts this season against the Padres. He struggled in those two outings and posted a 12.00 ERA with eight strikeouts in six innings pitched.

Cease is a six-year veteran and is looking to make his mark on a San Diego team looking for its first NL pennant since 1998.

Yamamoto has had an up-and-down season after earning a 12-year, $325 million deal in the offseason. He was one of the most highly-coveted players to ever come out of Japan after a seven-year career with Japanese-based Nippon Professional Baseball.

Both pitchers have a chance to put on legacy-making outings in what could end up being the most competitive series in recent MLB playoff history.

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Teren Kowatsch
TEREN KOWATSCH

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