The National League Division best-of-five series between the Los Angeles Dodgers and the St. Louis Cardinals officially begins Friday night.  There is a lot of history between these two teams and there may be no better way to continue this story than in a game that promises great pitching, great hitting and great baseball.

What: NLDS Game 1

When: Friday Oct. 3

Start Time: 6:30 p.m. PDT

Where to Watch: FS1

Los Angeles Dodgers

The Los Angeles Dodgers have spent a lot of money to get a team of talented players in blue uniforms this year. Though the team sagged at points early on in the season, they found themselves and went on an absolute tear to win their division and home field advantage in the opening round of the play-offs.

The Cardinals have also done extremely well, taking the NL Central for the second-straight year, and finishing with 90 victories. This is truly a clash between two major contenders early in the play-offs. Here's the breakdown of what to be expected when they play against each other tonight.

St. Louis Cardinals

Few teams have been a constant thorn in the Dodgers side the way that the Cardinals have been recently. Last year, St. Louis had the mighty Clayton Kershaw completely out of form and eliminated Los Angeles from the postseason in a 9-0 loss; in 2004 the Cardinals beat the Dodgers 3-1 in the postseason to eliminate them again; and in 1985, Jack Clark and his game-winning home run at the top of the 9th at Dodger Stadium allowed the Cardinals to advance to the World Series.

All that said, the Dodgers have plenty of cause to hope for redemption on Friday night and beyond.  They took the series in the regular season 4-3. Those  games were won by a margin of one run, but it does give them a positive thought process going into this game. Plus Clayton Kershaw on the mound for Game 1 is the best way to put their best foot forward, plus it allows Kershaw a chance at redemption after being blitzed by the Cardinals last year.

Pitching

Cardinals pitcher Adam Wainwright is probably the best pitcher in the National League that isn't named Kershaw. He has thrown for 227 innings with an ERA of just 2.38. Perhaps even more significantly, when he threw against the Dodgers during the season in only one game, he allowed just one run in eight innings.

Still, you have to give the pitching edge to the Dodgers. As good as Wainwright is, numbers tell us that Kershaw is better. He's the best playing at his best. Kershaw struck out 13 batters over seven shut out innings in a 9-0 win at Dodger Stadium in June. There's a reason he is the favorite for both the Cy Young and MVP awards: he's simply the best pitcher in baseball.

X-Factor

Betting odds say that the Dodgers are one of the most likely teams to win the World Series this year. But betting odds also don't really mean that much in post season baseball. It really is hard to judge momentum in this one as well because they both have a ton of it coming into this game. Even home field advantage is hard to give to the Dodgers because they have not really been that great at home this season.

That's why it just has to come down to numbers. The Dodgers finished sixth with 718 runs while the Cardinals finished 24th with 718 runs. Just for the hitting edge alone, this one should go to Los Angeles, but it definitely will not be easy.

Series Prediction

Dodgers over Cardinals, 3-1.