The Los Angeles Dodgers open up a key three-game series against the San Francisco Giants on Friday night at Oracle Park. The Dodgers-Giants series has delivered many great moments in MLB history, dating back to when the teams resided in Brooklyn and New York City.
Yes, this is one of MLB's "it" series, one that MLB fans from every corner of the world love to keep up with when it happens.
Jackie Robinson, Willie Mays, Steve Garvey, Ron Cey, Dave Lopes, Bill Russell, Barry Bonds, Clayton Kershaw, Evan Longoria, Chris Taylor and many other names have filled the lineups of both teams over the years.
Entering this series, though, Los Angeles really does need to pick up a series victory. The Dodgers are in first place in the National League West Division entering Friday's game, 2.5 games ahead of the second-place San Diego Padres.
But the Giants actually do have something to play for as well. San Francisco might not clinch the NL West title as the Giants are eight games out of first place. The team, though, is 1.5 games out of an NL Wild Card position.
When making out their lineups, Dodgers manager Dave Roberts and Giants manager Bob Melvin want to put the best players possible out there. The Dodgers have a 34-38 record away from Dodger Stadium; the Giants are 37-35 at Oracle Park.
Friday night's game has a must-see pitching matchup. The Dodgers' Yoshinobu Yamamoto is coming off his incredible start against the Baltimore Orioles, where he pitched 8 2/3 innings of no-hit ball before Jackson Holliday broke it up with a solo home run.
Of course, Dodgers fans know that reliever Tanner Scott blew his save opportunity and the Orioles won 4-3.
In his last three appearances, Yamamoto has a 1.66 ERA, giving up nine hits and four walks while striking out 26.
For the Giants, they'll counter with righthander Justin Verlander. It's been a pretty bad season record-wise for Verlander, who is only 3-10 with a 4.09 ERA. San Francisco hopes that Verlander can find some of his late-season magic and twirl a pretty sweet outing against a tough Dodgers lineup.
Verlander has shown some of his future Baseball Hall of Fame style in his own last three times out on the mound. Verlander has a 1.06 ERA with six walks, 21 strikeouts and 13 hits allowed.
On Saturday, Kershaw is scheduled to go up against the Giants' Logan Webb while on Sunday, Tyler Glasnow will reportedly get the start for the Dodgers against Robbie Ray.
There's no doubt that Dodgers and Giants fans see this as must-see TV on a Friday night in September. It's put-up-or-shut-up time as this longtime rivalry heats up once again.