On Tuesday, the Nationals became the first D.C. baseball team in 95 years to win a winner-take-all game. And last night, the Rays out-moneyballed the A's in a battle of low payrolls.
What's next: 8 teams now remain, and the divisional round begins tonight with a National League double-header.
Cardinals at Braves, 5pm ET (TBS)
- Season series: Braves 4-2
- Pitching matchup: The Braves will lean on a veteran arm in Dallas Keuchel (8-8, 3.75 ERA), while the Cardinals' starter, Miles Mikolas (9-14, 4.16 ERA), will be making his postseason debut.
- The backdrop: The last time these 2 teams met in the playoffs was MLB's first-ever wild-card game in 2012 — a game that will forever be remembered for a controversial infield fly.
Nationals at Dodgers, 8:30pm ET (TBS)
- Season series: Dodgers 4-3
- Pitching matchup: The Nationals will send left-hander Patrick Corbin (14-7, 3.25 ERA) to the mound, while the Dodgers have chosen Walker Buehler (14-4, 3.26 ERA) over Clayton Kershaw, who will start Game 2 tomorrow.
- The intrigue: The top of the Nationals' rotation is filthy (Max Scherzer, Stephen Strasburg, Corbin), but no NL team had a worse bullpen ERA this year. So, if they hope to contain the Dodgers' high-powered offense, they'll need those 3 to go deep into games.
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