The Majors, the league's best team during the regular season, will counter will ace Josh Palmer for the 7:30 p.m. game at Labatt Park.

Gray was 5-4 with a 2.41 earned-run average during the regular season, then opened the playoffs with a 10-inning gem as the Dodgers upset Paul Spoljaric and the Barrie Baycats en route to a five-game win, the franchise's first playoff series triumph.

Palmer was masterful during the regular season with an 8-0 record, including seven complete games, and league-leading 2.14 ERA, but he was 1-1 in the first round of the playoffs.

The series shifts to Kinsmen Park in Oshawa for Game 2 Saturday at 2 p.m., then goes back to London the next day for a 1 p.m. start.

Oshawa hosts Game 4 and, if necessary, Game 5 Tuesday and Thursday next week, both starting at 8 p.m., while the Majors would get home field for the final two games, if needed. They're scheduled for Aug. 15 and 16 at 7:30 p.m.

Dodgers manager Dan Bleiwas plans to start Adam Garner in Game 2 and Craig Chaput in Game 3, likely returning to Gray for Game 4. He expects Brandyn Agnew, who threw a shutout against Barrie in the first round, to get a start somewhere along the way as well.

The Majors also boast a deep pitching staff, including Adam Echlin, the likely starter Saturday in Oshawa. He was 7-2 with a 3.09 ERA during the regular season.

Although the Majors finished 10 games ahead of the Dodgers with a 27-9 record this season, Oshawa (17-19) did take three of the four head-to-head encounters.

Still, Bleiwas is throwing the regular season out the window and expects to see a hard-fought, low-scoring series.

"They can do a little bit of everything," Bleiwas said. "They've got frontline pitching and they play solid defence. I think it should be a great series."

The Guelph Royals (26-10) and Brantford Red Sox (23-13) meet in the other semifinal.