Beat — and I cannot stress this enough — LA

No, seriously. Beat LA.

You’re nervous. I’m nervous.

I get it.

You might find yourself saying to yourself today, “I hate this.”

I get it.

You might vomit today out of nervousness.

I get it.

But. But, but, but.

Could you really ask for anything more?

It’s September. The San Francisco Giants have fewer than 30 games remaining. And they’re about to start a series with the Los Angeles Dodgers, with the two teams holding identical records atop the NL West.

Yeah, your belly doesn’t like it, but this is as good as it gets.

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Series details

Who: San Francisco Giants vs. Los Angeles Dodgers
Where: Oracle Park, San Francisco, California
When: Friday (6:45 p.m. PT), Saturday (6:05 p.m. PT), and Sunday (4:08 p.m. PT)
National broadcasts: Friday (MLB Network, out of market only), Saturday (MLB Network, out of market only), and Sunday (ESPN)

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Where they stand

San Francisco Giants

Record: 85-49, T-1st in the NL West
Run differential: +142, 2nd in the NL
Postseason standing: Tied for 1st seed and 1st Wild Card
Momentum: 1-game winning streak, 5-5 in their last 10 games

Los Angeles Dodgers

Record: 85-49, T-1st in the NL West
Run differential: +213, 1st in the NL
Postseason standing: Tied for 1st seed and 1st Wild Card
Momentum: 3-game winning streak, 7-3 in their last 10 games

Season series: Tied 8-8

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Three Giants to watch

Photo by Todd Kirkland/Getty Images

Buster Posey: Posey remains one of the best players in all of baseball, but he’s been scuffling a bit lately. In his last 11 games, Posey is hitting 5-40 with 1 extra base hit, 3 walks, and 15 strikeouts. Perhaps it’s his Captain San Francisco face, or maybe his calm demeanor, or it could be that gorgeous swing that always seems primed to match the best pitchers. Whatever it is, I always feel like Posey is the key to beating the evil empire.

Anthony DeSclafani: Disco is set to return for the series opener, and it’s gutsy putting him in here against LA. Here’s how he’s done in 5 games against the Dodgers this year: 21 innings, 31 hits, 12 walks, 6 home runs, 22 earned runs. Against everyone else? 114.2 innings, 83 hits, 24 walks, 12 home runs, 29 earned runs.

José Quintana: The Giants have “TBD” listed as their starters for both Saturday and Sunday, and my guess is we’ll see Quintana start one of those games. If not, he’ll likely pitch a long stint out of the bullpen. Even though his ERA has struggled lately, there’s a lot to like about Quintana’s numbers and peripherals, and his first Giants appearance was stellar: 3.1 innings, 1 hit, 1 walk, 0 runs, and 6 strikeouts.

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Three Dodgers to watch

Photo by Katelyn Mulcahy/Getty Images

Max Muncy: I’m not even going to put Muncy’s numbers against the Giants here. You know the drill. It’s too much. Too much pain.

Walker Buehler: Buehler has dominated the Giants this year, allowing just 28 baserunners and 3 earned runs in 34 innings, with 32 strikeouts. If you remove Buehler from the games he’s played against the Giants, San Francisco enters this series with a cozy NL West lead. I don’t like him.

David Price: The Dodgers won’t have any sympathy for the Giants beat-up staff, because the Dodgers staff is beat up as well. As such, they’re relying on starter-turned-reliever-turned-emergency-starter Price to kick things off in the series opener. Price is having a totally fine, if uninspiring year, with a 3.88 ERA and 3.94 FIP. But he’s been much better as a starter than as a reliever, so hopefully the Giants can get to him early and say hello to that LA bullpen.

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