Giants vs. Nationals: Breaking Down Game 1 of the 2014 NLDS

After Madison Bumgarner's dominant performance Wednesday night propelled the Giants into the National League Division Series, San Francisco will now face the best team in the NL this season in the Nationals on Friday in Washington D.C.

Here is a look at what Game 1 has in store. 

Stephen Strasburg will take the mound for the Nationals after going 14-11 during the season with a 3.14 ERA and a National League-leading 242 strikeouts. The Giants will counter with Jake Peavy, who went 6-4 with a 2.17 ERA and a 1.04 WHIP in 12 starts after joining the team midseason.

The 26-year-old Strasburg will also be making his postseason debut. Strasburg was left off the Nationals playoff roster in 2012 to preserve his pitching elbow that was repaired via Tommy John surgery.

“I try not to look back on what it was like two years ago,” Strasburg said, according to the Washington Post. “I’m just trying to live in the present, and I’m excited for getting the chance now.” 

Alex Brandon/Associated Press

The decision to start Strasburg in Game 1 could also be attributed to his success at Nationals Park, as his home and away splits this year have been quite significant.

In the 18 games he started at home, Strasburg went 9-3 with a 2.56 ERA, as opposed to his 5-8 record and a 3.82 ERA in 16 road starts. 

As for Peavy, who has managed to turn his season around since getting traded from the Boston Red Sox, he will look to rebound from a poor postseason outing last year despite Boston’s World Series win.

Peavy started in three games last October and allowed 10 earned runs in 12.2 innings. However, a change of scenery seems to have revitalized his career, as he allowed just three home runs and walked only 17 batters in the 78.2 innings he pitched for the Giants this year.

On the offensive front, the two teams match up quite evenly. San Francisco averaged 4.1 runs per game during the season while hitting .255 as a team, and Washington averaged 4.2 runs per game, batting .253. 

The Nationals hold the upper hand in the head-to-head contests so far this year, though, as they took five of the seven games against the Giants during the regular season.

Washington won three of four at San Francisco in June and two of three at home in August, outscoring the Giants 41-30.

However, in the season series finale on Aug. 24 that the Nationals won 14-6, Strasburg was chased early after giving up five earned runs in just four innings at home.

Peavy's last start at Nationals Park wasn’t great either, as he gave up six earned runs—including three home runs—in 5.1 innings pitched on April 9 of last season as a member of the Chicago White Sox. 

All these regular season stats usually mean little when it comes to the postseason. If the playoffs in recent memory taught baseball anything, it’s that the team that gets hot at the right time usually ends up as the last one standing. 

The momentum in this contest, however, seems even as well.

The Giants are on the heels of their wild-card win over the Pittsburgh Pirates while the Nationals finished their last 30 games going 21-9, which included a no-hitter thrown by Jordan Zimmermann in the last game of the regular season.

This is setting up to be a series that needs to be decided in five games. But for now, signs are pointing toward the Nationals taking Game 1 due to their edge on the mound and a more balanced offense in comparison to the Giants.

All statistics courtesy of Baseball-Reference.com unless stated otherwise.