Dodgers vs. Diamondbacks National League Division Series schedule

LOS ANGELES — For the fourth season in a row, the Dodgers will play another National League West team in the NL Division Series. This year it’s the Diamondbacks, who will next play at Dodgers Stadium for Game 1 of the NLDS on Saturday, October 7.

Arizona swept the Brewers in two games in the wild card round in Milwaukee, winning 6-3 on Tuesday night and 5-2 on Wednesday.

The Dodgers will start Clayton Kershaw in Game 1 on Saturday, making his 12th career Game 1 start.

“From my standpoint, Kersh is the greatest competitor I’ve ever seen,” said Dodgers president of baseball operations Andrew Friedman on Wednesday.

Bobby Miller is in line for Game 2 on Monday, October 9.

“It definitely means a lot to be pitching in these games,” Miller said Wednesday. “I’m just going to treat it like any other game, don’t make anything too crazy about it. It’s the same mentality. I want to win every game I’m out there anyway.”

Game 1 starts Saturday at 6:20 p.m. PT, and Game 2 starts at 6:07 p.m. on Monday. The entirety of the series will be televised by TBS.

Any sort of pitching rotation advantage the Dodgers might have had due to Arizona having to play the wild card round was essentially neutralized by the D-backs sweeping Milwaukee in two games. And because they started their top two starters — Zac Gallen and Merrill Kelly — during the regular season’s final weekend while vying for a playoff berth, Arizona only had to use one of those pitchers to beat the Brewers, with Gallen finishing off the sweep on Wednesday.

Because of the extra off day, in between Games 1 and 2 of the NLDS, the D-backs can still use Kelly and Gallen in the first two games of the series, with both available to pitch on four days rest in Games 4 and 5, respectively, if needed.

The Dodgers won eight of the 13 matchups with the Diamondbacks during the regular season. Arizona won five of the first eight games, which took place in four-game series during the first two weekends of the season, but the Dodgers won the last five games, sweeping a pair in Phoenix on August 8-9, and winning all three games at Dodger Stadium from August 28-30.

This is the fourth season in a row the Dodgers will play a divisional foe in the Division Series, and the fifth time in the last seven years, beginning with a sweep of the D-backs in the 2017 NLDS. The Dodgers swept the Padres in the 2020 NLDS, beat the Giants in five games in 2021, and lost to San Diego in four games in 2022.

If Games 4 or 5 are necessary for this NLDS, and if they are the only NL game on that day, the start time shifts from 6:07 p.m. PT (or 6:20 p.m.) to 5:07 p.m.