Yesterday was the true opening of MLBs postseason play and it wasn't all that exciting. Adam Wainwright did what he does best in October and that's pitch a solid game for the Cardinals, pitching 7 innings allowing only 3 hits and sending 9 back to the pine with an ERA of 1.29 for the start of postseason. On the other side was AJ Burnett and boy did he have a rough day. AJ Burnett was smoked the whole 2 innings he pitched but to me it just didn't look like he was right from the get go. He gave up 6 hits but walked 4 batters including the pitcher Wainwright which lead off the big 3rd inning 7 run explosion for the Cardinals. With runners on first and second Carlos Beltran did what he does best as he belted a 422ft bomb, giving the Cardinals a 3-0 lead. The Cardinals scored 7 runs in the 3rd without recording an out. Burnett left the game with a 31.50 ERA as he also pitched to 8 batters in the 3rd. All in all the Cardinals took this one easily with the score of 9-1.
The game that followed the Cardinals win was the Dodgers versus the Braves and it was the same story in a different city. The beast lefty Kershaw pitched a solid 7 innings while giving up 3 hits and 3 walks but fanned 12 posting a 1.29 ERA. Like I said yesterday you cant say enough about Kershaw and his pitching. For his counterpart, Medlen, it was the same story as Burnett as he pitched 4 innings giving up 9 hits 4 runs and walking 1 to post an ERA of 11.25. Game 1 of the series goes to the Dodgers.
So with game 1 in the books for both NL playoff teams game 2 for both teams is tonight. Looking through each team it seems I'm a tad behind as the Pirates are already up 6-1 against the Cardinals in the top of the 7th inning. Like I said yesterday the Cardinals would take game 1 but I have Pittsburg taking the next 3, even more so since after tonight they play at PNC Park. Game 2 for the Dodgers and the Braves starts tonight as Zack Greinke faces off against Mike Minor. This should be one hell of a duel as both pitchers had a great year but I'm going with the Dodgers again in tonight's match up.
With that we need to sit down and look at the ALDS as it is already underway today as the Rays and Red Sox are already in the top of the 2nd inning. Again I'm a little behind today but Ill be sure to give you low down on game 2 of each match up, but hey we can still talk about it. Matt Moore is starting on the mound for the Rays and the lefty had a good season going 17-4 with an ERA of 3.29, striking out 143 batters in 150 innings for the season. His counterpart is long time Sox pitcher Jon Lester. The left hander had a bounce back year after finishing 2012 9-14 with an ERA of 4.82, his highest of his career. Yet 2013 was kind to him as he went 15-8 with a 3.75 ERA while striking out 177 batters this year. Just like they say, what goes up must come down. Lets get down to business though, Ill take the Red Sox over the Rays this year 3-2.
The game after is the Tigers and the Athletics and it should be a great match up as Max Scherzer takes on Bartolo Colon. We will start by saying what a year by Max Scherzer, wouldn't you say? Record-wise he was the most unbeatable pitcher since Cliff Lee went beast mode in 2008 going 22-3. Scherzer demolished the 2013 season going 21-3 posting a 2.90 ERA while striking out 240 batters in 214 innings. Hello CY Young award. He continues to improve drastically as his records show every year he has gone up in wins every single year, 0 wins in 08, 9 wins in 09, 12 wins in 2010, 15 wins in 2011, 16 wins in 2012, and 21 wins in 2013. He is also reliable, pitching 30+ games in 5 of his 6 seasons. Next up is Bartolo Colon as he starts on the mound today for the Athletics. The 40 year old had his best season since 2005 when he was with the Dodgers as he posted a 18-6 record with an ERA of 2.65 in 30 games this year. His 2.65 ERA the second lowest in this career next to the 2.55 he posted in 2002 while playing for the Indians. The one thing I have always liked about the Indians is that they were always the under dogs and you have to love the under dogs in baseball. With being my last statement Ill pick the Athletics to win the 5 game series 3-1. Fingers crossed.
That will be it for today everybody. Hope you enjoyed the read and I hope you come back tomorrow as Ill go over the Game 2 of the NLDS as well as Game 1 for the ALDS and the match ups for game 2. Tomorrow Ill also try to go over the Browns Bills game and even try to get some hockey in for you puck heads out there. With that I say good bye, I hope you have a good one. Thanks for reading.
Friday, October 4, 2013
Thursday, October 3, 2013
Tonights NFL match up and MLB playoffs
Tonight's game should be pretty good as we watch the Buffalo Bills travel to Cleveland to take on the Browns.
Lets start with Buffalo. The Buffalo Bills are 2-2 coming into Cleveland and are 21st in points per game with 22 a game. Quarterback EJ Manual, in my opinion, is a beast and does a great job being a young leader. Buffalo's defense needs a wake up call though, giving up 23.2 points per game they are ranked 18th. I don't see Buffalo doing much in their conference with of course New England and the surprise of Miami leading the the division but give them a couple of years.
Cleveland is a surprise of the NFL and I'm behind them. I believe Cleveland, I believe. Yeah they may of lost to the Ravens but it was by 8 points. Not only that but they beat they Bengals. The Bengals, the 10-6 last year playoff team Bengals. All of this coming off of trading Trent Richardson to the Colts. Cleveland may lead their division now but it wont last long no matter how much I want them to win it all. The offense for Cleveland is ranked 29th with 16 points a game and defense giving up 17.5 points per game which is ranked in the top 10 at number 8.
Prediction for tonight's game: I would pick Buffalo being as their rushing attack is 2nd in the NFL but Cleveland's defense is stingy being in the top 10 in defense points per game(8th), defensive yards per game(3rd), defensive pass yards per game(9th), and defensive rush yards per game(4th). With that being said I pick the Cleveland Browns 17-14.
Moving on to the MLB the playoffs start tonight with the Nation League starting us off with the Pirates taking on the Cardinals and the Dodgers facing off against the Braves. Let me back up real quick and talk about the last two "playoff games". I love that the MLB opened up two more spots for the playoffs but I cant stand that its a one game winner takes all. What kind of bull is that? I may be wrong, I bet that there are some people that like the format but I cant stand it. At least make it a three game series or something. After watching the Indians I felt so bad for them because I truly believe that the Cleveland Indians were a better team than the TB Rays. Like I said I may be wrong, but I'm sticking to making it a three game series. Back to the games at hand.
The Pirates and Cardinals face off tonight in the first of five and the Pirates took won the season series. Tonight's match up is AJ Burnett against Adam Wainwright. We will start with Burnett as he comes off of a 10-11 season with a 3.30 ERA. He is also the Pirates most experienced postseason pitcher making his 7th start, his first since playing for the Yankees in 2011. On a side note for his season he also topped 200 K's for the first time since 2008. The two best hitters against Burnett for the Cardinals are Carlos Beltran and Matt Holliday. Both Beltran and Holliday are batting over .300 against Burnett which both having over 20 AB against the right hander. Beltran has 2 homers and 11 RBIs and Holliday with 1 homer and 6 RBIs.
Adam Wainwright will take the mound for the Cardinals tonight and he had a terrific season going 19-9 with a 2.94 ERA. Wainwright may have had a great season but he shines in October as he has a 2.48 ERA through 32.2 innings (four starts and nine relief innings). Last years Game 1 in the NLDS he gave up 1 run while sending 10 of Washingtons hitters to the bench in 6 innings. Looking at the line up for the Pirates there is one hitter who stands out above the rest and that is of course Andrew McCutchen who in 28 at bats is hitting .429 with 1 homer and 3 RBIs.
Prediction: Baseball, I believe, is the hardest thing to predict. There are so many variables in baseball that it is truly who heats up at the right time. With that being said Adam Wainwright is untouchable to 8 of the 9 batters in the Pittsburgh so Ill take the Cardinals winning game 1 of the series, I have the Pirates taking the series 3-2.
The game to follow will be the Dodgers and Braves as Clayton Kershaw faces Kris Medlen. We will start with Clayton Kershaw and really you cant say enough about this guy, he has to be the best left handed pitcher in the game. He had a 16-9 season with a 1.83 ERA for the season and looks like he will win his second CY Young award and why wouldn't he after leading the Majors with the 1.83 ERA and also topping the NL with 232 strikeouts. He has not faced the Braves yet this year and the only person on the line up with any success is Freddie Freeman batting a .500 with 1 HR and 1 RBI but that's only in 2 AB so I don't give him too much credit.
Kris Medlen will start for the Braves as he comes into the playoffs after posting a 15-11 season with a 3.11 ERA. The end of his season was the better part of his year as he posted a 2.04 ERA in his last 11 starts. He comes into tonight's game looking to avenge his loss in last years Wild Card Game. Looking at the line up for the Dodgers there are a slew of hitters that might give Medlen a problem with Hanley Ramierz hitting .556 in 9 ABs and Skip Schumaker hitting .444 with 9 ABs as well. Three others in the line up are hitting .333, Andre Ethier, Tim Federowicz, and of course Puig.
Prediction: I have to go with the Dodgers in this one but it will be a close series. 3-2 Dodgers over the Braves.
Well that's all for today ladies and gentleman so I hope you enjoyed it. We will see how everything plays out tonight. Hold me to my predictions folks and leave me comments let me know what you think and if you have an argument or objection present it. I would love to hear it. Tomorrow I will cover the games from last night as well as take a look at the AL playoff games and maybe a little bit of hockey. Have a good day folks, Ill see you tomorrow.
Lets start with Buffalo. The Buffalo Bills are 2-2 coming into Cleveland and are 21st in points per game with 22 a game. Quarterback EJ Manual, in my opinion, is a beast and does a great job being a young leader. Buffalo's defense needs a wake up call though, giving up 23.2 points per game they are ranked 18th. I don't see Buffalo doing much in their conference with of course New England and the surprise of Miami leading the the division but give them a couple of years.
Cleveland is a surprise of the NFL and I'm behind them. I believe Cleveland, I believe. Yeah they may of lost to the Ravens but it was by 8 points. Not only that but they beat they Bengals. The Bengals, the 10-6 last year playoff team Bengals. All of this coming off of trading Trent Richardson to the Colts. Cleveland may lead their division now but it wont last long no matter how much I want them to win it all. The offense for Cleveland is ranked 29th with 16 points a game and defense giving up 17.5 points per game which is ranked in the top 10 at number 8.
Prediction for tonight's game: I would pick Buffalo being as their rushing attack is 2nd in the NFL but Cleveland's defense is stingy being in the top 10 in defense points per game(8th), defensive yards per game(3rd), defensive pass yards per game(9th), and defensive rush yards per game(4th). With that being said I pick the Cleveland Browns 17-14.
Moving on to the MLB the playoffs start tonight with the Nation League starting us off with the Pirates taking on the Cardinals and the Dodgers facing off against the Braves. Let me back up real quick and talk about the last two "playoff games". I love that the MLB opened up two more spots for the playoffs but I cant stand that its a one game winner takes all. What kind of bull is that? I may be wrong, I bet that there are some people that like the format but I cant stand it. At least make it a three game series or something. After watching the Indians I felt so bad for them because I truly believe that the Cleveland Indians were a better team than the TB Rays. Like I said I may be wrong, but I'm sticking to making it a three game series. Back to the games at hand.
The Pirates and Cardinals face off tonight in the first of five and the Pirates took won the season series. Tonight's match up is AJ Burnett against Adam Wainwright. We will start with Burnett as he comes off of a 10-11 season with a 3.30 ERA. He is also the Pirates most experienced postseason pitcher making his 7th start, his first since playing for the Yankees in 2011. On a side note for his season he also topped 200 K's for the first time since 2008. The two best hitters against Burnett for the Cardinals are Carlos Beltran and Matt Holliday. Both Beltran and Holliday are batting over .300 against Burnett which both having over 20 AB against the right hander. Beltran has 2 homers and 11 RBIs and Holliday with 1 homer and 6 RBIs.
Adam Wainwright will take the mound for the Cardinals tonight and he had a terrific season going 19-9 with a 2.94 ERA. Wainwright may have had a great season but he shines in October as he has a 2.48 ERA through 32.2 innings (four starts and nine relief innings). Last years Game 1 in the NLDS he gave up 1 run while sending 10 of Washingtons hitters to the bench in 6 innings. Looking at the line up for the Pirates there is one hitter who stands out above the rest and that is of course Andrew McCutchen who in 28 at bats is hitting .429 with 1 homer and 3 RBIs.
Prediction: Baseball, I believe, is the hardest thing to predict. There are so many variables in baseball that it is truly who heats up at the right time. With that being said Adam Wainwright is untouchable to 8 of the 9 batters in the Pittsburgh so Ill take the Cardinals winning game 1 of the series, I have the Pirates taking the series 3-2.
The game to follow will be the Dodgers and Braves as Clayton Kershaw faces Kris Medlen. We will start with Clayton Kershaw and really you cant say enough about this guy, he has to be the best left handed pitcher in the game. He had a 16-9 season with a 1.83 ERA for the season and looks like he will win his second CY Young award and why wouldn't he after leading the Majors with the 1.83 ERA and also topping the NL with 232 strikeouts. He has not faced the Braves yet this year and the only person on the line up with any success is Freddie Freeman batting a .500 with 1 HR and 1 RBI but that's only in 2 AB so I don't give him too much credit.
Kris Medlen will start for the Braves as he comes into the playoffs after posting a 15-11 season with a 3.11 ERA. The end of his season was the better part of his year as he posted a 2.04 ERA in his last 11 starts. He comes into tonight's game looking to avenge his loss in last years Wild Card Game. Looking at the line up for the Dodgers there are a slew of hitters that might give Medlen a problem with Hanley Ramierz hitting .556 in 9 ABs and Skip Schumaker hitting .444 with 9 ABs as well. Three others in the line up are hitting .333, Andre Ethier, Tim Federowicz, and of course Puig.
Prediction: I have to go with the Dodgers in this one but it will be a close series. 3-2 Dodgers over the Braves.
Well that's all for today ladies and gentleman so I hope you enjoyed it. We will see how everything plays out tonight. Hold me to my predictions folks and leave me comments let me know what you think and if you have an argument or objection present it. I would love to hear it. Tomorrow I will cover the games from last night as well as take a look at the AL playoff games and maybe a little bit of hockey. Have a good day folks, Ill see you tomorrow.
Wednesday, October 2, 2013
Before We Get Started
My name is Andrew Alan Turnbough and this is my blog. I know its a sports blog but I figured Id let you know who I am so here we go. As the opening states my name is Andrew and I'm 22 years old. I live in the state of Missouri and have for a long time. I played sports all through grade school and high school and just like every other kid all I wanted to be when I grew up was a super star athlete. Fast forward years later and I became just like everyone else who didn't make it; a die hard sports fan. When I say die hard I mean DIE HARD. I'm a complete Chicago Bears, Chicago Cubs, Chicago Bulls, and Chicago Blackhawks fan, but being a fan I follow everyone else as well. Numbers are my weakness but stats are my forte. They may seem like the same thing but they are not. Just think about it, it will click soon I promise. I have no school background in writing, I just write to write and I love to write so why not write about the thing I love the most and that is sports. So sit back and relax and enjoy because tomorrow we start. I know I started just a bit late but I will catch you up in all the news around each league as much as possible. Since its MLB playoff time we will touch on that as well as the NFL. Thanks for reading and I hope you enjoy.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)