Tuesday, October 15, 2013

MLB Playoffs: Day Twelve

OK, I was totally wrong about last night's Dodgers/Cardinals game.  I thought the Dodgers -- who had scored only two runs in 22 innings during the first two games against St. Louis -- would struggle to score against Cardinal Ace Adam Wainwright.  But the Cardinals were somewhat sloppy in the field, Yasiel Puig finally did something (an RBI triple), and Dodger rookie Hyun-Jin Ryu (14-8 with a 3.00 E.R.A. in the regular season) threw seven shutout innings allowing only three hits and a walk.  So the Dodgers surprised me (and the rest of the baseball punditocracy) with a 3-0 win, and the series is suddenly competitive again:

National League Championship Series (Best of Seven):
St. Louis leads Los Angeles 2-1

American League Championship Series (Best of Seven):
Boston and Detroit are tied 1-1

Today's Games:
Boston at Detroit (3:07 P.M. Central) (on FOX)
St. Louis at Los Angeles (7:07 P.M. Central)  (on TBS)

25 comments:

  1. I'm totally for the Tigers, but I'm of two minds about the National League, as I have friends who are Cardinals fans and friends who are Dodgers fans. Mostly, I'm nonplussed now that the A's have lost.

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  2. The freaking Kirk Gibson World Series game is playing on both MLB Network and ESPN Classic at the same time.

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  3. Boston beats Detroit (and Justin Verlander) 1-0 -- the third 1-0 game in the two League Championship Series so far. I'm now calling this series for the Red Sox.

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  4. In the bottom of the 2d in Los Angeles, the Dodgers actually have two runners on base at the same time -- I don't remember the last time I saw that.

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  5. The Cardinals walk A.J. Ellis to load the bases with two outs, but this brings up the Dodger pitcher, so the Redbirds should still be OK.

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  6. Yep, Dodger pitcher Ricky Nolasco strikes out and the second inning is over. Still scoreless. It's like watching the Nats play themselves.

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  7. Amazingly, 85-year-old Vin Scully -- who replaced Red Barber as the primary radio voice of the Brooklyn Dodgers after the 1953 season -- is still calling Dodger games. He sounds as good as ever.

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  8. In the top of the third, the Cardinals jump out into a 1-0 lead with a single by Daniel Descalso, a bunt from the pitcher, and a double from Matt Carpenter.

    The way the LCS games have been going, this game is probably over.

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  9. Well, now it is over -- Matt Holliday just crushed a two-run homer to left to give the Cardinals a 3-0 lead in the bottom of the third.

    So we're probably looking at a Cardinal/Red Sox World Series.

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  10. In the bottom of the 4th, Adrian Gonzalez leads off with a double to right. Andre Ethier draws a walk, bringing up Yasiel Puig. The Cardinals hate Puig, who they think celebrated too much after his triple in Game Three. The first pitch to Puig almost hits him. But Puig holds firm, and hits a 3-2 pitch up the middle for a single to make the score 3-1.

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  11. Dodgers still batting.

    Jose Uribe hits a long fly to right for the first out of the inning, but Ethier moves to third. Then A.J. Ellis whacks a single up the middle to make the score 3-2.

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  12. At this point, Dodger Manager Mattingly goes for broke -- pulling his pitcher and sending up Skip Schumaker to pinch hit (an odd move in the 4th inning).

    But the move backfires, as Schumaker hits into an inning-ending double play.

    After 4: Cardinals 3, Dodgers 2

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  13. In the top of the 5th, the Cardinals have runners on the corners with two out, but Matt Holliday hits into a force-out to end the threat.

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  14. Carl Crawford leads off the bottom of the 5th with a single, but the Dodgers 2, 3, and 4 hitters go down 1-2-3.

    After 5: Cardinals 3, Dodgers 2

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  15. One big problem for the Dodgers is that Hanley Ramirez, their number-3 hitter, appears to be hurt. He has come to bat three times in this game, and struck out all three times.

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  16. On Dodger Radio, Charlie Steiner points out that these franchises have been playing each other since 1890. The Dodgers have won 1,013 of those games; the Cardinals have won 1,011.

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  17. In the top of the 6th, the Cardinals have runners on 1st and 2d thanks to a walk and catchers' interference (!). One out, and David Freese at bat. He can break the game open here.

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  18. Freese gets the count to 3-1, but then hits into a 5-4-3 double play to end the inning.

    After 5 1/2: Cardinals 3, Dodgers 2

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  19. According to FanGraphs, the Cardinals have a 64.5 percent chance of victory.

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  20. The HP is now my official (and nearly exclusive) news source for the MLB playoffs and federal-government shutdown.

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  21. With one out in the 6th, Puig whacks a single into center field. Now St. Louis is going to change pitchers. That's all for Lance Lynn, who gave up 6 hits and 2 runs (although he's also responsible for Puig) in 5 1/3 innings.

    The Cardinals bring in Seth Maness (5-2, 2.32 ERA).

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  22. Maness gets Jose Uribe to ground into a 6-4-3 double play and the inning is over.

    Puig will probably only get to bat one more time.

    After 6: Cardinals 3, Dodgers 2

    Cardinals now have a 73 percent chance of victory.

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  23. In the top of the 7th, the Cardinals sent in Shane Robinson to pinch hit for Maness. He hit a home run to make the score 4-2.

    In the bottom of the 7th, Nick Punto -- who replaced the injured Ramirez for the Dodgers -- hit a double. He was then immediately picked off second.

    Those two plays tell you all you need to know about these two clubs.

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  24. After 8 innings, the Cardinals lead 4-2. They have a 94 percent chance of victory.

    The Dodgers have gotten great, great pitching in this series -- and they are completely wasting it. They were beaten 4-1 by the Phillies in both the 2008 NLCS and the 2009 NLCS. It will be interesting to see if they can at least force a Game Six this time. But in terms of winning and losing, this series is over. The Dodgers are just too sloppy and too poorly managed to win a series against the Cardinals.

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  25. And in the end, the Cardinals even get their revenge on Puig. He comes up for the last time in the 9th, with no out and a runner on first -- and raps into a double play. The Dodgers have been hitting into double plays all night.

    Finally, it's over: Cardinals 4, Dodgers 2. Cardinals lead 3-1, and they can win their 19th National League pennant tomorrow. So far, the Dodgers have given them much less trouble than the Pirates did.

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