It’s winner-take-all for the Mets and Dodgers tonight, with the victor going on to face the Chicago Cubs in the National League Championship Series.
Zack Greinke gets the start for the Dodgers, thanks to the heroic, season-saving, Game 4 efforts of Clayton Kershaw, who pitched 7 innings of 1-run ball with 8 strikeouts in 3-1 victory, in a performance that should at least temporarily quell the talk of him being a choke artist.
Greinke overcame a pair of second-inning solo homers in Game 2 to go 7 innings with 8 Ks, 0 walks and only 5 hits, leading the Dodgers to a 5-2 win. For all of Greinke’s greatness, though, game 2 will be best remembered for Chase Utley’s vicious takeout slide that broke Ruben Tejada’s leg and helped spark... Read More
Do-or-Die time has come to the National League Division Series, as both the Cubs and Mets are on the brink of heading to the LCS, while the Cardinals and Dodgers teeter on the brink of 9 AM tee times.
Cardinals at Cubs (4:37pm ET Tuesday, TBS) Cubs ace Jake Arrieta’s reign of terror finally came to end on Monday, as he gave up 4 runs in 5 ⅔ innings, but the Cards failed to take advantage, surrendering 6 home runs in an 8-6 loss to go down 2 games to 1 in this best-of-five series.
And so, with their season on the line, the Cardinals send John Lackey to the hill on three days' rest. Lackey was brilliant in his Game 1 start,... Read More
Dodgers at Mets (8:37pm ET, TBS) The Dodgers on Saturday rode Chase Utley’s dirty slide right through second base, Ruben Tejada’s right fibula and onto a 5-2 victory to even their series against the Mets at one game apiece.
Brett Anderson, who takes the ball for the Dodgers on Monday, was the very model of average in 2015, with a 10-9 record, 3.68 ERA, 1.3 WHiP and 2.52 SO/W ratio. Anderson has never in his career faced the Mets, but Curtis Granderson has a 1.128 in 13 plate appearances against him, and he’s held Michael Cuddyer to 1 hit in 12 at bats.
Celebrity pitcher Matt Harvey will get the start for the Mets, and will no doubt be tasked with avenging Tejada’s... Read More
Cubs at Cardinals (5:35pm ET Saturday, TBS) The Cardinals took control of their divisional series with a 4-0 win Friday over the Cubs in Game 1, behind a dominant performance from starter John Lackey. Tonight they’ll hand the ball over to Jaime Garcia.
Garcia finally appears to be healthy for the first time since 2011, though his 2015 debut was delayed by off-season shoulder surgery, and he missed 4-5 weeks in June/July. But overall he’s been solid, going 10-6 with a 2.43 ERA, thanks largely to an unsustainably low .270 BABIP and a career low .4 homers per 9. Garcia was lights-out at home this season, with a 1.70 ERA, with a 5.18 strikeout-to-walk ratio.
Kyle Hendricks will be pitching for the Cubbies, coming... Read More
Cubs at Cardinals (6:30pm ET Friday, TBS) Fresh off defeating the Pirates with another masterpiece from Jake Arrieta in the Wild Card game, the Cubs now have to quickly pivot and face the St. Louis Cardinals in a best-of-five series.
The Cards made the race for the NL Central more interesting than it should’ve been, losing 8 of their last 11 games. Much of that downturn has been attributed to the loss of catcher and team leader Yadier Molina, who hasn’t played since tearing a ligament in his thumb on September 20. Molina has decided to try to return wearing a splint, which should give the Cards a huge emotional boost; whether he’ll be able to hit and catch remains to be seen.
