The loser of tonight's Dodgers-Giants game is really going to hate themselves

This is a BIG one.

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The Los Angeles Dodgers and San Francisco Giants have taken their bitter rivalry to new levels over the past week or so with their first-ever meeting in the playoffs and tonight it’s going to get even crazier when they square off in a winner-take-all Game 5 at Oracle Park.

And you know what? The loser of tonight’s game is really going to hate themselves because it will mean either a 106-win team (the Dodgers) or a 107-win team (the Giants) isn’t going to make the NLCS, which is going to be a rough pill to swallow.

While the loser of this massive series will be calling it a wrap on the 2021 season, the winner will go on to be the favorite to beat the Braves in the NLCS.

The Dodgers-Giants series so far has been everything baseball fans have hoped it would be. No team has won back-to-back games, though the Dodgers did come one big wind gust away from a dramatic moment in the ninth inning of Game 3 that could have swung this series their way.

TV execs have loved it, too, because lots and lots of people have been watching.

So what happens tonight? That’s a good question. I have to think the Dodgers are going to win since they feel like the superior team even if they did have one less win in the regular season.

I haven’t watched a ton of Giants games this year but in this series I’ve been confused how a lineup with dudes like Buster Posey, Evan Longoria, and Kris Bryant (who came over late in the year after a trade with the Cubs) have had the firepower to win so many games this year. But they have won a lot of games so I have to tip my cap and respect them and their very good pitching staff.

The Dodgers entered the postseason as the favorites to win it all, even though they had to beat the Cardinals in a wild-card game to get things going. They have all the bats and pitching that money could buy and feel like a team that should get a shot to go back to the World Series and try defend their title.

But as we all know with sports, and especially in baseball, things that feel like they should happen rarely actually happen.

After a night with no baseball last night we get to settle back into our couches this evening and watch what should be an awesome Game 5 between two teams and two fanbases that really don’t like each other.

The winner advances to the NLCS.

The loser will hate themselves for coming up short after such an incredible regular season.

But us baseball fans (except those of the losing team) will like ourselves, because we’re going to witness what should be a fun, and possibly legendary, game.

Sports!

Quick hits: Charles Barkley’s 4 best moments on TNT’s hockey coverage… Breaking down NFC/AFC division leaders… Braves star celebrates from home… And more. 

– TNT kicked off its NHL coverage last night and Charles Barkley joined Wayne Gretzky and the rest of the crew for some fun segments.

–  Christian D’Andrea looks at the level of fraud content for every division leader in the NFC and also in the AFC.

– Braves star Ronald Acuña Jr., who has missed most of this season with an injury, went nuts at home watching his team beat the Brewers in the NLDS.

– Blake Schuster rightly argues that it’s just fine for someone in Chicago to like the Cubs and White Sox.

– Brett Favre should be ashamed of himself.