NLDS Schedule 2014: TV Info and Preview for Friday's Postseason Clashes

With the San Francisco Giants' shutout of the Pittsburgh Pirates on Wednesday night, the field is officially set for the 2014 National League Division Series.

The Giants join the three division winners—the Washington Nationals in the East, the St. Louis Cardinals in the Central and the Los Angeles Dodgers in the West.

This year's postseason looks open on both sides, with no one team forging an aura of invincibility. The second-half collapse of the Oakland A's and the power outage for the Pirates in the Wild Card Game have demonstrated that nothing is sacred this season.

Schedule

Series	Matchup	Time (ET)	TV Info	Live Stream
NLDS	SF at WSH	3 p.m.	TBD	MLB.tv
NLDS	STL at LAD	6:30 p.m.	FS1	Fox Sports Go/MLB.tv

Washington Nationals vs. San Francisco Giants

In 2013, it seemed as if the baseball gods were having their way with the Nationals after Washington eschewed a chance to win the 2012 World Series in order to preserve Stephen Strasburg's arm.

As great as the Giants looked against the Pirates in the Wild Card Game, the Nats finished with the best record in the National League. They boast plenty of offensive firepower and what may be the best stable of arms among the eight playoff teams remaining.

Bleacher Report's Joel Reuter believes Washington has the No. 1 pitching staff in this year's postseason. He highlighted the starting rotation, which, top to bottom, features few holes:

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The trio of Stephen Strasburg, Jordan Zimmermann and Doug Fister combined to go 11-2 with a 1.44 ERA in their final five starts, with Zimmermann providing the cherry on top with a no-hitter in the final game of the season Sunday.

The No. 4 starter spot is a choice between the team's only left-hander in Gio Gonzalez (10-10, 3.57 ERA) and a guy in Tanner Roark (15-10, 2.85 ERA), who finished the season ranked 12th in the NL in ERA and tied for seventh in WHIP.

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Pitching generally wins rings, and San Francisco doesn't have a ton of offense to overwhelm the Nats starters and knock them out of games early. The absence of Angel Pagan won't by itself mean an early exit, but it won't help matters.

Who knows how healthy Michael Morse will be? MLB.com's Paul Casella reported that Morse could return in the NLDS but didn't give much of an indication of whether the left fielder would contribute in a meaningful way.

It would be foolish to count out the Giants completely; they've won two World Series titles in the last five years.

On the other hand, they're facing a major uphill battle in this series.

Los Angeles Dodgers vs. St. Louis Cardinals

Alex Brandon/Associated Press

What more could you ask for as a baseball fan? Two of the game's best pitchers are facing off in Game 1 of the NLDS. When the Cardinals and the Dodgers met in last year's National League Championship Series, Clayton Kershaw was matched up against Michael Wacha and Adam Wainwright was matched up against Hyun-Jin Ryu. Now, it's Wainwright vs. Kershaw.

Everything else pretty much takes a back seat to these two aces.

Here's a look at Kershaw and Wainwright by the numbers, courtesy of FanGraphs:

Dilip Vishwanat/Getty Images

In two starts against the Cards in the NLCS, Kershaw wasn't himself, giving up seven earned runs on 12 hits over 10 innings.

The 26-year-old is the presumptive favorite for the NL Cy Young Award, which would be his third time winning, and he's also battling Mike Trout for the title of best player on the planet.

However, Kershaw knows that most of his regular-season accomplishments won't be remembered as much as what he does in the postseason, per Bill Shaikin of the Los Angeles Times:

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I think it's pretty important, honestly. People remember teams. They don't really remember players that much. They don't really remember individual success. They remember the World Series.

You're seeing that with [Derek] Jeter. He's a great player. He hits .300. He has 3,000 hits, all that stuff. But he's got, what, four or five World Series? That's why he's being celebrated the way he is.

You need that. At the end of the day, if you want to be remembered in baseball, you need that.

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Few things are scarier than Kershaw; a motivated Kershaw is one of them.

Of course, you don't want to overlook Wainwright. The Cardinals got lucky on the final day of the regular season, as the Pirates' loss to the Cincinnati Reds locked up the NL Central for St. Louis. That allowed manager Mike Matheny to save his ace for Game 1 of the NLDS, per Bleacher Report's Scott Miller:

	W-L	ERA	K/9	BB/9	FIP	xFIP	WAR
Kershaw	21-3	1.77	10.85	1.41	1.81	2.08	7.2
Wainwright	20-9	2.38	7.10	1.98	2.88	3.34	4.5

The 33-year-old made one start against the Dodgers this year, going eight innings and giving up one earned run on five hits in a 1-0 loss for the Cardinals. Historically, he's pitched well against Los Angeles, posting a 2.90 ERA over 77.2 innings.

However, Wainwright has struggled somewhat in Dodger Stadium, going 1-3 over 37.2 innings with a 4.30 ERA.

With the way Kershaw has played this year, the smart money is on the Dodgers to take Game 1.