Quick Recap

San Francisco Giants - The Giants finished the season with 88 wins and 74 losses while finishing second in the National League West division behind the Los Angeles Dodgers by six games. The Giants had a pretty average season in the batters box and attained decent numbers in the pitching category finishing tenth in ERA and third in WHIP. They advanced to the NLDS by defeating the Pirates in dominating fashion. Madison Bumgarner pitched a gem while the offense racked up 8 total runs and holding the Pirates to zero.  

Washington Nationals - The Nationals had an outstanding season, finishing with one of the best records in baseball with 96 wins and 66 loses. They finished in first place in the National League East by 17 games over the Mets and Braves. They averaged around tenth in the league in the batting stats but dominated their division with their stellar pitching rotation. The Nationals will be very difficult to produce runs against so opposing teams will need to take advantage of good pitches early in the count. 

Starting Pitchers

Jake Peavy (Giants): 7-13, 3.73 ERA, 158 strikeouts

Peavy had himself a pretty solid season but was average to the rest of the league. He couldn't quite get the wins that he wanted but definitely improved overall after being traded to the Giants from the Boston Red Sox. Since being traded he dropped his ERA a whole point from 4.72 to 3.73 and went from one win in 20 starts with the Red Sox to six wins in 12 starts with the Giants. 

Stephen Strasburg (Nationals): 14-11, 3.14 ERA, 242 strikeouts

Strasburg absolutely dominated this season on the mound. He pitched the most innings and achieved the most strikeouts in a single season in his career and recorded the most strikeouts in the entire National League. It will be extremely difficult for batters to get ahead against him. 

Impact Hitters

Buster Posey (Giants): .311 average, 22 homeruns, 89 RBI, 72 runs

Posey just about led every statistical category in batting for the Giants. He is clearly the best offensive player in the Giants lineup and they will be relying on him to continue his production throughout this series and the playoffs. 

Hunter Pence (Giants): .277 average, 20 homeruns, 74 RBI, 106 runs

Pence played through all 162 games this season and put up some solid numbers for himself. The best thing about him is that he can move around the bases once he gets on and has good backup in the lineup where he can score runs quickly as you can see from his team leading 106 runs scored. 

Denard Span (Nationals): .302 average, five homeruns, 37 RBI, 94 runs.

Span didn't have high numbers in the power and runs batted in categories but he made up for it by achieving over a .300 batting average, scoring 94 runs, and stealing 31 bases this season. He led the team with 184 total hits and is arguably the most dangerous player on the base paths for the Nationals. 

Bryce Harper (Nationals): .273 average, 13 homeruns, 32 RBI, 41 runs

Harper played only 100 games this season due to multiple injuries that put him out for weeks on end. The Nationals will be depending on him to stay healthy in the playoffs and contribute plenty of production behind the plate. We all know he is capable of putting up elite numbers and will try to do so in the series. 

Pitching Advantage: It is clear that the Washington Nationals have the pitching advantage in this game. Strasburg is a Cy Young caliber pitcher and can easily fan 10 or more batters in a single game. Look for him to keep the Giants runs pretty low. I couldn't imagine more than 3 runs scored against him. Plus they have one of the best closers in Rafael Soriano to help them shut it down in close games.

Hitting Advantage: This is actually a tough one to call but I will have to say that the Nationals also have the advantage here. From top to bottom this team is very solid hitting the ball. There isn't one standout player that does most of the work like Buster Posey with the Giants. Every player on the Nationals have different strengths which bodes well with the team.

The Giants will win because…

They will jump on Strasburg early before he settles in. If they can manufacture an average of one run per inning while he is on the mound then there is a good chance that the Giants pull off a win.  Peavy will also have to be on top of his game and go a minimum of six innings into the game.

The Nationals will win because…

Strasburg will pitch a gem and the Nationals will produce solid runs throughout the game. There is a good chance that Strasburg will go seven inning strong or longer which will help preserve the bullpen and solidify the win in Game 1.

Final Prediction

Giants: 1

Nationals: 4

The Nationals will win this game mainly because of Stephen Strasburg on the mound. I expect him to rise up to the occasion and pitch as well as he has all season long.