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The Dodgers and Nationals meet later tonight (8 p.m. ET) in a winner-take-all game to decide who will advance to face the Cubs in the NLCS. Go inside the numbers and matchups that will decide Thursdays game between the Los Angeles Dodgers and Washington Nationals, then vote for which team will win?at the bottom of the page.Inside the pitching matchupWhen Rich Hill is on the mound:?When he wasnt sidelined by blisters, Hill was one of the best starters in baseball in 2016, going 12-5 with a 2.12 ERA between the Oakland As and Los Angeles Dodgers and holding batters to a .195 average. On the surface, his repertoire seems pretty basic: A fastball from 88 to 91 mph and a big-breaking curveball. He throws both up in the strike zone -- 70 percent of his fastballs are in the upper half compared to the MLB average of 50 percent.What makes him so difficult to hit is the deception in his delivery. Both pitches are delivered on the same axis, what pitchers call mirroring.His curveball will also have different speeds and arcs to it. His fastball generates extreme spin, leading to fly balls and pop-ups. And just to throw a wrinkle into everything, he occasionally drops down and throws sidearm. Add it up, and hes an outlier in delivery and pitch location that major league hitters just dont see.Now, he has to throw strikes. In his Game 2 start, he generated a swing-and-miss rate of 40.7 percent, his highest of the season. But he was also wild, with an in-zone rate of 45.1 percent, his second-lowest of the season. The Nationals also chased just 11 percent of those pitches, a season-low against Hill. He ended up walking two batters in 4.1 innings and five of the six he allowed came when he was behind or even in the count (and five of those came off his curveball).Hes starting on three days rest so young Julio Urias will have to be ready for long relief in case Hill falters early. -- David SchoenfieldWhen Max Scherzer?is on the mound: ?The Washington Nationals Cy Young candidate led the National League in wins, innings, strikeouts, strikeout-to-walk ratio and home runs allowed. Corey Seager and Justin Turner tagged him in Game 1, Seager on a first-pitch fastball, Turner on a first-pitch curveball.Scherzer gets good armside run on his fastball that averaged 94.3 mph; only Justin Verlander and Rick Porcello had a higher swing-and-miss rate with their fastballs. Scherzer can get into trouble with it, however, when he thinks he can simply blow it by hitters and leaves it in the middle of the zone, as he did with Seager. His slider is a wipeout pitch, as only Jose Fernandez generated a higher swing-and-miss rate.Heres the catch, though: Scherzer had a big platoon split. Lefties hit .242/.315/.445 against him while righties hit .156/.189/.288. The Dodgers will be able to roll out seven left-handed batters (plus Hill, who also hits left-handed). -- SchoenfieldPlayer in the spotlightTrea Turner: The rookie center fielder is hitting .353 in the series even though he has 10 strikeouts (hes 6-for-7 when he puts the ball in play). If he can get on base, his speed adds a new dimension and gives Jayson Werth - who killed left-handers this year and has been locked in -- some RBI opportunities.?-- SchoenfieldWhat will decide Thursdays gameIf either of the starting pitchers get in trouble in this game, neither manager should be hesitant to go to their bullpens. The Dodgers (3.35) and Nationals (3.37) led baseball in bullpen ERA during the regular season.And each team may need their pens early, as both teams have been giving up runs early.The Nationals have given up a first inning run in every game of the series, despite posting a league-average first inning ERA. Both teams below the league average ERA in the first three innings (4.22), but each has struggled in the series, as the Dodgers have a 6.00 ERA in the first three innings while the Nationals sit at 8.25.The starter that holds his team in it the longest has the best chance to take home the win.?-- Daniel McCarthy,?ESPN Stats & InformationChoosing sides: Who will win?? ?Theres generally a reason why the road less traveled is less traveled. In this case, Rich Hill -- journeyman, blister, short rest, and all -- is that road. Ill take the road more traveled thanks. Thatd be the guy who has already won a Cy Young, is about to win another, is fully rested, and pitching at home. Max Scherzer and the Nats advance. -- Eddie Matz? The Dodgers have figured out a way to win throughout this injury-riddled season and they will figure out a way once more in Game 5. When Clayton Kershaw went down in late June, the Dodgers morphed into a team that could throw offense, a bullpen and a little defense at the problem. That experience will serve them well in the deciding game of the NLDS. -- Doug PadillaWhere the series standsIts tied up. The winner moves on to Wrigley Field to face Jon Lester in Game 1 of the NLCS on Saturday. Both bullpens figure to be used heavily once again. The three lefty Nationals relievers figure to play a key role if Scherzer doesnt dominate and Roberts has utilized 20 relief appearances in the first four games.?-- SchoenfieldSebastian Rode Jersey . Dallas hasnt ruled out the star quarterback for Sunday nights game against Philadelphia, but all signs point to Romos back injury pushing Kyle Orton into the starting role after two years of limited play as the backup. Surely Ortons name isnt the first that comes to mind for fans wanting a change after years of damaging interceptions, fumbles or, most infamously, the field goal flub when Romo dropped the snap on a kick that could have won his first playoff game in 2006. Sergio Gomez Dortmund Jersey . Louis Rams wide receiver Stedman Bailey last Sunday. The fine is the fourth this season for Goldson. He was fined $30,000 for a hit on the New York Jets Jeff Cumberland in Week 1. http://www.footballdortmundpro.com/Kids-Shinji-Kagawa-Jersey/ . On Mar. 16, coming off a "fight of the year" performance at UFC 154 the previous November, St-Pierre faced Nick Diaz at UFC 158 in what would be his eighth defence of the welterweight title. Using his superior athleticism, St-Pierre cruised to a five round, unanimous decision victory setting up a much-anticipated title defence against number one contender Johny Hendricks. Jacob Bruun Larsen Jersey . Cote was eligible to become a free agent Feb. 15. Cote helped running back Jon Cornish run for a league-high 1,813 rushing yards en route to being named the leagues most outstanding player. Sergio Gomez Jersey . -- Jonathan Drouin gave Halifax the boost it needed to edge host Sherbrooke Phoenix 3-2 in a shootout in Quebec Major Junior Hockey League action.When the UFC stacked the fight card for the historic first event in New York City, it did so by selecting more than a few talented strikers from its roster to ensure the event sees some fireworks. As well see, the names of these fighters are among the primary reasons fans will be tuning into the nights events. Lets take a closer look at the offensive striking metrics for the fighters on the card -- and see which fighters excel in their standup game, and specifically how they excel.How the graph worksThis balloon (or bubble) chart includes the fighters competing this weekend with sufficient sample size. Many of these figures will move with more cage time, but its a good snapshot of how theyve performed to date.The four metrics in the graph are all related to offensive striking. First, the vertical axis is the power head striking accuracy. This is a general reflection of a strikers skill level in technique. Some fighters are more aggressive than others, while some are primarily counter-strikers; those characteristics lead to very different striking styles. The horizontal axis indicates the ratio of strike attempts while standing compared to that specific fighters opponents throughout their career. Its a measure of output, and a proxy for aggression. An even 1.0 ratio means a fighter matches the pace of their opponents when standing and trading, while a higher number shows more aggressive and higher-volume strikers compared to lower ratios, which indicate counter-strikers.The dots are plotted based on those two metrics, but two additional variables are also shown on this chart. The size of the bubble is based on the fighters Knockdown Rate in all of their UFC, Strikeforce and WEC fights. Bigger bubbles mean a lot more power, while the small specks indicate fighters who havent logged a distance knockdown in recorded competition. Lastly, southpaw/switch stance strikers are in red. Unorthodox strikers are rare, but are worth highlighting, as some fighters have trouble with Southpaws. click to enlargeSnipersHighest on the graph, Conor McGregor leads the pack as the most accurate power striker at UFC 205, landing 42 percent of his power head strikes from a distance. Impressively, he has achieved this while using a high mix of head kicks instead of just punches, which typically lowers a fighters accuracy.Another UFC champion and event marquee fighter, Joanna Jedrzejczyk, comes in close behind at 40 percent. Like McGregor, Joanna Champion excels with precision despite using an aggressive striking style that might normally lower overall accuracy.Cuban wrestler Yoel Romero may have the most noteworthy Olympic credentialss on the card, but surprisingly he has avoided putting them to use so far in the UFC.dddddddddddd Instead of wrestling, he has opted stand and trade with opponents, and has enjoyed remarkable success with his hands.High-pressure strikersJedrzejczyk isnt just an accurate and technical striker, she puts on a blistering pace. Shes averaging over 19 standup strike attempts per minute while at a distance, and shes nearly doubled the pace of opponents by throwing 83 percent more total volume. However, she has only the second-highest striking output on the card, because her opponent Karolina Kowalkiewicz averages 21 attempts per minute. Thats all the more reason to expect a barnburner in the strawweight championship bout.In addition to Kowalkiewicz, welterweight title challenger Stephen Wonderboy Thompson has also vastly outworked his opponents while trading leather. Thats because Thompsons long-range movement and skilled kicking attacks have stymied his opponents to date. However, its worth noting that his opponent, Tyron Woodley, will have the best wrestling credentials of anyone that Thompson has ever faced.SluggersWoodley, the new welterweight champ, is the punch-for-punch hardest hitter on the card, and secured his new belt in an appropriately hard hitting manner. Woodley is the first fighter to win a welterweight title fight in the early rounds in nearly a decade, in a division that has seen more than its share of decisions when the belt is on the line. It will be interesting to see if he chooses to stand and trade with Wonderboy -- whether hell count on power to trump precision and pace, or if we will see an early dose of wrestling.Another welterweight comes in a distant second, and thats Donald Cerrone. Despite lagging behind Woodley on the stat line, Cerrone makes up for it with pure volume of career knockdowns scored -- currently at 17 total since his days in the WEC, and six more than the next-highest total on the card (Alves, 11). Cerrone will try to test the sturdy chin of Kelvin Gastelum on the main card.Keeping it on the groundKhabib Nurmagomedov is arguably the most effective wrestler on the card.?He typically chooses to keep fights on the ground, as hes absolutely dominated opponents while there. That suits Nurmagomedov well, given that he has not demonstrated very accurate or well-paced power striking thus far. In facing a more skilled striker in Michael Johnson, hell have to stick to his bread and butter to ensure the fights stays in the position that favors his style. ' ' '