The Washington Post asks, “why is the World Series favorite in a play-in game?” and proceeds to tell its readers why the Dodgers are favored to win the whole schmeer.

The other NL contenders simply cannot match the depth on the mound or at the plate that Los Angeles brings to the table. While the Dodgers’ road appears harder than those of other teams, the hardest road of all is for any team with the Dodgers standing in front of them.

Cardinals at Dodgers , 5:10 PM PDT, TV: TBS

Grizzled veterans face one another as the Cards send 40-year-old RHP Adam Wainwright (17-7, 3.05 ERA) to the Dodger Stadium mound to face the Dodgers’ 37-year-old RHP Max Scherzer (15-4, 2.46 ERA).

Much has happened on this day in baseball history: Sandy Koufax took Yom Kippur off in 1965, Mudcat Grant became the first black World Series game-winner for an American League team when the Twins took Game 1 from the Dodgers at Metropolitan Stadium in 1965, Willie Davis made three errors in the fifth inning of Game Two of the 1966 World Series, Jim Palmer beat Koufax in the same game, Phil Niekro won his 300th game in 1985, and Lenny Harris surpassed Manny Mota’s career pinch-hit record in 2001.

Cardinals lineup:

Dodgers lineup: