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.
No comments:
Post a Comment