We’re finally here. Champing at the bit. Nervous with anticipation. Stress levels are at their peak. Waiting to find out who the Dodgers will play, and with some others, also interested in the matchups throughout the playoffs. The DLD crew are Dodger fans, first and foremost but we also love baseball and like any baseball enthusiast, keep tabs on the rest of the league. With that knowledge, we’ll begin a series predicting each playoff matchup as it goes along, all the way through the playoffs in both leagues. Albeit with or (OH GOD FORBID) without the Dodgers in it.

First off are the National League and American League wild-card games. The NLWC is between the Milwaukee Brewers  (89-73) and Washington Nationals (93-69) with the game taking place at Nationals Park in Washington D.C. The Nats have a formidable rotation that’s supported by arguably one of the worst bullpens in baseball this season. Their offense, however, is no fluke. They’ve scored the 2nd most runs in the NL behind the Dodgers. The Brewers are the ultimate Cinderella team. While losing an MVP candidate in Christian Yelich late in the season, they somehow were able to sustain without him going 13-5 after his last game, securing a WC spot and nearly winning the NL Central. The ALWC has the Tampa Bay Rays (96-66) up against the Oakland A’s (97-65) at the Oakland Coliseum. Tampa Bay has one of the more unorthodox pitching staffs in baseball but still considered one of the elite. Their +123 run differential, which is 7th in baseball, has more to do with their hurlers than their hitters. Oakland is a little more balanced on both sides with both the runs allowed and runs scored ranked within the top 10 in baseball giving them the 5th best run differential in the majors at +165. Both matchups have their share of uncanny and conventional traits but in a win or go home scenario, these traits can be rendered meaningless.

Regardless of how they got there, it now comes down to an “anything goes” 1 game decision. So here’s how the DLD team predicted it:

Kevin

Brewers 3 / Nationals 2

Athletics 8 / Rays 6

David

Nationals 4 / Brewers 2

Rays 6 / Athletics 2

Ian

Nationals 5 / Brewers 3

Rays 5 / Athletics 0

Brent

Nationals 3 / Brewers 1

Athletics 5 / Rays 3

Danielle

Nationals 4 / Brewers 2

Rays 5 / Athletics 3

Mayra

Nationals 4 / Brewers 3

Athletics 6 / Rays 2

Oskar

Nationals 5 / Brewers 1

Athletics 4 / Rays 2

Eric

Brewers 5 / Nationals 4

Athletics 4 / Rays 2

There you have it. Most of us have the Dodgers hosting the Nats for the NL Divisional Series and the A’s facing off against the Astros in the AL Divisional Series. I’m already feeling the butterflies. I’ll be back to layout predictions for all four division series matchups on Thursday but these first 2 should be a fun way to kick off the postseason.

Oskar is a contributor to Dodgers-Lowdown. Follow him on Twitter @2rawsko94. You can follow the rest of the team that have Twitter accounts by clicking on their name.