Los Angeles @ Washington preview

Last Meeting ( Oct 4, 2019 ) Washington 4, LA Dodgers 2

The Washington Nationals are determined to overcome their biggest liability by leaning on their biggest strength and, so far, it's working. The Nationals will try to ride their starting pitchers to a series lead when they host the Los Angeles Dodgers in Game 3 of the National League Division Series on Sunday.

Washington knocked off the Milwaukee Brewers in the Wild Card Game in large part because Stephen Strasburg came out of the bullpen and tossed three scoreless innings in relief of Max Scherzer, who returned the favor with a surprise appearance in the eighth inning of Game 2 in which he struck out the side. "Before the series started, before we even got to the playoffs, our game plan was to try to utilize these guys the best way possible without disrupting their starts," Nationals manager Dave Martinez, who still plans on starting Scherzer in Game 3, told reporters. "And we talked to all of them and they have all been on board. So, it's just part of it. When you get to these games, I've said this before, you're playing to win one game. Every day's crucial." The top-seeded Dodgers, who took Game 1 on Thursday 6-0 before falling 4-2 on Friday, struck out 17 times in Game 2 and are focusing on the quality of their at-bats going forward. "Obviously when you deploy Scherzer in Game 2, they're going to play every game to the end and use whatever part of the roster they have," Los Angeles manager Dave Roberts told reporters. "They trust their starters. They're going to rely on their starters. For us, I think we just got to keep taking good at-bats."

TV: 7:45 p.m. ET, TBS

PITCHING MATCHUP: Dodgers LH Hyun-Jin Ryu (14-5, 2.32 ERA) vs. Nationals RH Max Scherzer (0-0, 4.50)

Ryu was the favorite to win the NL Cy Young while carrying a 1.45 ERA in early August before a rough four-start stretch, but he finished the season with three consecutive strong outings and comes into the postseason with some momentum. The South Korea native made a pair of starts against Washington in the regular season and allowed a total of one run and nine hits over 14 2/3 innings while striking out 13. "My job is to go out there and make sure to put up zeros and try to give up the least amount of runs as a starting pitcher and just go hard from the get-go," Ryu, who is 2-2 with a 4.11 ERA in seven career postseason starts, told reporters.

The Nationals are waiting to see how Scherzer's body responds before locking him into the Game 3 start and will go with veteran right-hander Anibal Sanchez if Scherzer needs an extra day. Scherzer started the Wild Card Game on Tuesday and was reached for three runs on four hits - two homers - over five innings before turning things over to the bullpen. The three-time Cy Young Award winner earned a win at Los Angeles in May and is 4-5 with a 3.78 ERA in 18 career postseason games - 14 starts.

WALK-OFFS

1. Dodgers OF and MVP candidate Cody Bellinger is 0-for-6 with four strikeouts in the first two games.

2. Nationals CF Victor Robles (hamstring) left Friday's game in the eighth inning and is day-to-day.

3. Los Angeles 1B Max Muncy is 3-for-6 with a homer and four RBIs in the series.

PREDICTION: Dodgers 3, Nationals 2