LOS ANGELES -- For decades, the Cardinals and Dodgers have been two of the most prominent organizations in baseball. The two franchises have grown accustomed to playing for championships.

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Over the years and despite not being in the same division, the Dodgers and Cardinals have had their fair share of battles. Since 2004, the Dodgers and Cardinals have faced off in the postseason five times, with Los Angeles winning the last one, a thriller in the 2021 Wild Card Game that ended with Chris Taylor’s walkoff homer.

While both teams have championship aspirations coming into the season, there’s still a long way to go until October. Nobody, of course, would be surprised to see the two teams meet again down the line.

Right now, the they are focused on getting off to a strong start. It’ll all get going at Dodger Stadium on Thursday.

When is the game and how can I watch/listen to it?
Cardinals: First pitch in St. Louis comes at 3:10 p.m. CT. The game will be televised by Bally Sports Midwest and will be aired on radio on KMOX in St. Louis and across the Cardinals Radio Network.

Dodgers: First pitch will be at 1:10 p.m. PT in Los Angeles. The game will be televised by SportsNet LA and will be aired on radio on AM 570.

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What are the lineups?
Cardinals:

1. Brendan Donovan, LF
2. Paul Goldschmidt, 1B
3. Nolan Gorman, 2B
4. Nolan Arenado, 3B
5. Willson Contreras, C
6. Alec Burleson, DH
7. Jordan Walker, RF
8. Victor Scott II, CF
9. Masyn Winn, SS

Dodgers:

1. Mookie Betts, SS
2. Shohei Ohtani, DH
3. Freddie Freeman, 1B
4. Will Smith, C
5. Max Muncy, 3B
6. Teoscar Hernández, LF
7. James Outman, CF
8. Jason Heyward, RF
9. Gavin Lux, 2B

Who are the starting pitchers?

Cardinals: RHP Miles Mikolas
Mikolas, 35, was named the Opening Day starter when Sonny Gray was unable to open the season with the club because of a right hamstring strain. Mikolas, who was named last season’s opener when Adam Wainwright was injured, becomes the oldest Cardinals pitcher to make consecutive Opening Day starts since Chris Carpenter did so in 2010 and ’11 at 34 and 35 years old.

Dodgers: RHP Tyler Glasnow
Glasnow got the start for the Dodgers on Opening Day against the Padres in Seoul, South Korea, and he’ll be on the bump again for the domestic opener against the Cardinals. The 6-foot-8 right-hander was an integral part of the Dodgers’ $1 billion spending spree this offseason and the club will need him to be healthy and act like an ace this season. It’s the second Opening Day start of Glasnow’s career and it’ll be the first time he pitches at Dodger Stadium as a member of the Dodgers.

How might the bullpens line up after the starter?
Cardinals: In addition to remaking their starting staff, the Cards also shuffled the deck in their bullpen. Closer Ryan Helsley and primary setup men Giovanny Gallegos and JoJo Romero return, but most of the others are new faces. Andrew Kittredge, an All-Star in 2021 with the Rays, will work in plenty of high-leverage spots. Riley O’Brien, who was acquired in a trade with the Mariners, was a camp revelation with his 98-mph sinker and his wipeout sweeper. Being without prized free-agent addition Keynan Middleton stings, but the club will lean on Andre Pallante as a bridge to the back end of the bullpen.

Dodgers: Brusdar Graterol and Blake Treinen are on the injured list to start the season, but the Dodgers still believe they have plenty of arms to get through the end of games. Joe Kelly, Ryan Brasier, Daniel Hudson and Evan Phillips will get the majority of the high-leverage moments until Treinen and Graterol are back on the mound. The Dodgers don’t have a lockdown lefty in the bullpen this season, which will force them to rely on neutral right-handers to get through a tough lefty.

Any injuries of note?
Cardinals: The Cardinals have been dealing with a plethora of injuries throughout Spring Training and those will leave them shorthanded in the opening series against the Dodgers. Gray, the ace the Cardinals awarded a three-year, $75 million free-agent deal, will open on the backdated 15-day injured list and will miss at least two starts. Tommy Edman (right wrist surgery) and Lars Nootbaar (two rib fractures), two-thirds of St. Louis' slated starting outfield, will also open on the IL. Middleton, another key free-agent addition from the offseason, is out for 15 days because of a right forearm strain.

Dodgers: The Dodgers got out of Spring Training relatively healthy outside of Graterol and Treinen. Los Angeles, of course, will get some reinforcements at some point soon in Walker Buehler and Emmet Sheehan, who also started the season on the injured list. On the position player side, the Dodgers enter the season at full strength.

Who’s hot and who’s not?
Cardinals: Injuries to Edman, Nootbaar (two rib fractures) and Dylan Carlson (sprained left AC joint, left shoulder) spoiled the Cardinals’ plans in the outfield and caused them to adapt. Strong springs by rookie Victor Scott II, Alec Burleson and Matt Carpenter eased some of those issues.

The Cards are highly hopeful that Goldschmidt and Arenado can have big bounce-back seasons and deliver production levels like what they did in 2022.

Gorman, who hit 27 home runs in 119 games last season, seems to have gotten past the back issues that plagued him for two years and he could be headed toward a monster season. There are no questions about Winn’s glove, but he must prove he can handle big league pitching following late season struggles last year.

Dodgers: After a terrific spring, Betts carried that over into the two-game series against the Padres in South Korea. The 2023 National League Most Valuable Player runner-up went 6-for-9 with a homer and six RBIs against the Padres. Betts reached base safely in eight of the 11 plate appearances between the two games. On the contrary, Freeman and Outman struggled in the two games against the Padres, going a combined 1-for-12 at the plate. Of course, it’s unfair to say they’re struggling given the tiny sample size.

Anything else fans might want to know?
Cardinals: Starting the season against the star-studded Dodgers is just the beginning of a daunting first couple of weeks for the Redbirds. St. Louis plays 13 of its first 16 games against playoff teams from 2023, and it will be facing former manager Mike Shildt and the stacked Padres in the other three games. Following the seven-game road trip to open the season, the Cardinals return home to face the Marlins and Phillies. They then head back west for face the defending NL champion D-backs in Phoenix.

The Cardinals were swept at Dodger Stadium in 2023, but they managed to take three of four from the Dodgers in a May series at Busch Stadium.

Dodgers: Ohtani and Yoshinobu Yamamoto are close friends with Nootbaar from their time playing together on Team Samurai Japan in the 2023 World Baseball Classic. Nootbaar wears a diamond-encrusted watch gifted to him by Ohtani following Japan’s win in the WBC. As for Yamamoto and Nootbaar, the two spent most of the offseason working out together and playing rounds of golf.