Breaking down the NLDS 

October, 1, 2011
10/01/11
10:37
AM ET
By Jim Bowden | ESPN.com
Here are the key matchups I'll be watching for in both of the National League Divisional Series:

Arizona Diamondbacks-Milwaukee Brewers


• The Brewers had the best home record of any team in baseball this season (57-24), and they need to take advantage of the fact that they'll be getting three of the five games in this series at home.

• Yovani Gallardo will open for the Brewers, and he has a 2-0 record with a 1.38 ERA against Arizona this year. On the other side, Ian Kennedy faced the Brewers just once this season and threw seven innings of shutout ball. Both of these starters are expected to pitch Games 1 and 5, and this matchup will be the most important of the series.

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Jim Bowden
Jim Bowden

Bowden, who served as the senior vice president and GM for the Cincinnati Reds and the Washington Nationals, is an analyst for ESPN.com. In 1992, Bowden became the youngest GM in MLB history when the Reds hired him at age 31. The Reds finished in first place twice during his 10 years as GM, and he was named MLB Executive of the Year by Baseball America in 1999. After working for ESPN in 2004, Bowden became the first GM of the Washington Nationals when the franchise relocated from Montreal to Washington, D.C., in 2005, working in that role until the 2009 season. Bowden co-hosts the "Inside Pitch" radio show on Sirius XM satellite radio. Follow on Twitter: @JimBowdenESPNxm.

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