(Reuters) – The Los Angeles Dodgers enter Major League Baseball’s new 12-team postseason as the betting favourites to win the World Series but a familiar foe in the equally deep and experienced Houston Astros could very well stand in their way.
Should both clubs reach the final round it would offer the Dodgers a chance at vindication given they lost the 2017 World Series to an Astros team whose triumph that year was called into question over a sign-stealing scandal.
The postseason kicks off on Friday and marks the debut of a format that includes two more teams than last year and features a best-of-three format for the opening wild-card round during which the higher-seeded teams will host each game.
The Dodgers, defending World Series champion Atlanta Braves, Astros and New York Yankees all earned first-round byes as they finished the regular season as the two division winners with the best record in their respective leagues.
Los Angeles, who won the World Series in 2020, solidified their status as the team to beat in the National League (NL) when they acquired sensational hitter Freddie Freeman from the Braves in March and have lived up to expectations.
POWERFUL PUNCH
The Dodgers pack a powerful punch and have scored more runs than any other team in the regular season (847) while giving up the fewest (513) and for their efforts have home-field advantage throughout the postseason.
Coming off a franchise-record 111 wins in the regular season, the Dodgers will face either the New York Mets or San Diego Padres on Tuesday in the first game of their best-of-five division series.
The Dodgers won nine division titles in the last 10 years but their only World Series triumph in that span came in the shortened 2020 campaign and the players know a championship this year would carry more weight in the eyes of some critics.
“2020 was something incredible, but we get some criticism for the shortened season,” Dodgers left-hander Julio Urias said via the team’s website. “But winning another one in Los Angeles would be incredible. That’s what we’re trying to accomplish.”
In other NL action, the St, Louis Cardinals will battle the Philadelphia Phillies in a wild card series with the winner moving on to face the Braves.
The Astros, who lost in the World Series in 2019 and 2021, have perhaps the best pitching staff in baseball led by 39-year-old Justin Verlander who had more wins (18) than anyone in the American League and the lowest ERA (1.75) in MLB.
The AL’s top-seeded Astros await the winner of the wild card series between the Toronto Blue Jays and Seattle Mariners while the Yankees, powered by slugger Aaron Judge, will face either the Cleveland Guardians or the Tampa Bay Rays.
Judge enters the postseason on a high after becoming the AL’s new single-season home run king having launched his 62nd of the year on Tuesday to break the record he had shared with Roger Maris.
Following the four division series, the league championship series and World Series will be best-of-seven games affairs.
(Reporting by Frank Pingue in Toronto, editing by Ed Osmond)
