Oct
10
NLDS Game Three Thread: Dodgers @ Cardinals
ByIt’s hard to believe that the Cardinals return home to St. Louis down 0-2 after throwing Chris Carpenter and Adam Wainwright – combined +10.3 WAR this year – in the first two games. Their playoff hopes fall on the right shoulder of Joel Piniero (15-12, 3.49), who enjoyed the best year of his career thanks to a new approach centered around groundballs (60.5 GB%) and not walking guys (1.14 BB/9). The Dodgers will counter with the Vicente Padilla (12-6, 4.46), who’s a certifiable headcase. First pitch is scheduled for 6:07pm ET, and TBS once again will broadcast it.
Oh, and the Phillies-Rockies game tonight was already postponed due to snow in Colorado. They’re going to make this one up on Monday.
I think I read that the game is going to be pushed back just to tomorrow.
Sucks for the Rox and Phillies. It’s pretty damn cold here, about 25 degrees but it feels like 15. And tomorrow its only supposed be 10 degrees higher.
Nice to know Mike Everitt sucks umpiring in the NL too.
Ouch, Cards in a bit of a hole here. Not good.
You rooting for the Cards?
No, not really.
Yea, me neither. I thought them or the Phils would present the biggest challenge in the WS for the Yanks. I want them out.
You mean the Phils, led by their dynamic closer Bryan Madson…no Brad Lidge…no Madson…no, Lidge for one batter and Madson for two…
Phillies only have one shutdown awesome pitcher this year (Lee) and a terrible bullpen (or at least closer). Phillies don’t worry me at all.
Its not their pitching that much, its their offense.
In the playoffs, it’s all about pitching.
You think that the Red Sox inability to score at all hasn’t impacted their games?
Pitching shut them down.
Of course you need an offense, but I believe that in these short series pitching is far more important.
Exactly. And their good offense presents a challenge to our pitching, especially with their and our ballparks. However, remember I said they present the biggest challenge. That’s all relative. I still think we rule everyone.
Confidence Level: 27
No, it’s the opposite. Pitching wins championships, and I think our pitching is > than Phillies pitching and our offense is > than Philly offense. However, I think Cardinal pitching is > than our pitching. While their offense is worse, pitching is more important, so I’d rather face the Phils.
You’re right though, it’s all relative. We can beat anybody.
This series is a classic example of the phrase “too many variables in a five game series”. 9 times out of 10 the Cardinals win 1 game of 2 starting Carpenter and Wainwright in a row like that.
You just can’t predict baseball.
Sterling’d
. . . but you can predict what Sterling will say about it.
Ethier is beastly so far in the playoffs
Rooting for the Dodgers. The Cards have better pitching, they’re just lucky. I’d rather face the Dodgers then the Cards if it gets to that.
lol, Wolf, Kershaw, Padilla would be tottally unfair against us… on paper
losing the first two games of the series with their best pitchers going seemed to take their hearts out of it or something. the cards look really lost and unfocused.
Holliday is having an awful series.
Hehe, Dennys Reyes
He reminds me of my dog or a chipmunk…
anyone hear the TBS announcer call Mattingly the Dodgers’ “Pitching Coach.” when can we fire TBS already?!
wow the three cardinals pitchers all have no decisions in the playoffs
well no winning decisions i mean
DFA’d
Just kidding. Yea, it’s odd that their heralded pitching has rallied their teammates to victory.
*hasn’t
haha one day i will not be DFA’d
what happened to padilla? i don’t remember him throwing this hard
The National League happened. He always threw that hard.
command seems better as well
Watching Smoltz struggle to finish off Padilla was enjoyable for me.
That is one Scraptastic shortstop the Cardinals have there. I didn’t think it was humanly possible to be that scrappy. He’s a badger personified.
mustache + showing the sanitary socks + bonus points for striped sanitary socks + sliding unnecessarily into first = off the scrap scale
He makes Gardner look like a lazy, beer guzzling, rec softball player.
Pedroia makes Ryan look like Robbie Cano.
I think it’s the other way around. Pedroia, at least, has some talent.
I was talking only grit wise. No matter the talent, Pedroia is ALWAYS the most gritty.
I admit, Dusty grit factor is really, really high. But Ryan is Gritlimitless.
it’s like ryan was created in a labgritory
i’ll be here all week
tip your waitress
I had the veal. It was delicious.
That’s no Shortstop, that’s WB Mason.
WHO BUT!
Is John Smoltz not the living breathing example of this:
-Great starting pitchers make extra-great relievers,
-But their starting is more valuable, and so they’re moved back to the rotation for as long as they can manage
-And after they can no longer manage, they still make pretty damn good relievers
?
Yepp, as long as they don’t tip their pitches.
/Duncan’d
was smoltz tipping his pitches as a red sox?
so says Dave Duncan. But I dont believe it much. The NL just sucks ass.
agree
“tipping your pitches” = “pitching in the american league east”
Seriously, besides that one HR , Holliday has stunk worse than A-rod 2005-2007!
How come the Cardinal fans aren’t giving Matt Holliday a standing ovation after fouling out to Martin? pfft, some so called “fans”.
They are THE best fans EVER.
/All-Star Game Announcers’d
WTF was that, no singles defense?
After Smoltz struck out 5 straight batters, he should have just walked off the mound and retired on the spot.
OK, lets assume the Dodgers wrap things up here.
-Who do you like in the NLCS to face the Dodgers?
-Who do you like in the Sox-Angels series (I don’t think it’s over)
-Who’s your ALCS matchup?
-Give me your World Series as things stand right now.
I’ll start.
1) Phillies
2) Angels
3) Yanks-Angels
4) Yanks-Dodgers
and my World Series winner ids the Yanks, in 6.
Well there’s no reason for me to be redundant.
Not only do I think these games’ll be great to watch, but I may be able to score a ticket to a game in the ALCS & WS each, under this scenario.
agree with everything except i think yanks will need 7 to beat dodgers
agree with everything except i think yanks will need
74 to beat dodgersThere. I fixed it for ya. You’re welcome.
Uh oh, he’s tipping his pitches again!
“Honey, I’ll bring you to see the Cardinals, but I ain’t talking to you. I’m going to listen to the radio. You can just sit there and listen to me bitch, and thats final”
http://www.businessinsider.com.....me-2009-10
Yanks won because they’re clutch-ier. Gotcha.
“What finally clicked in Alex Rodriguez’s head that has allowed him to cream the ball so far in these playoffs after going 1-for-985 (or thereabouts) in all of his previous postseason appearances? Whatever it is, it’s not a statistic.”
No, what’s not a statistic *or at least an accurate one* is A-Rod going 1 for 985 (or thereabouts) in the postseason.
Pretty dumb article.
*Sarcasm alert*
The Cards would be better off PH for Ryan and letting Smoltz hit.
Looking at the #s, Dodgers had by far the best pitching in baseball this year. Their bullpen is excellent.
Kuroda had a 1.14 WHIP. They get him throwing and they’re dangerous.
They also had the weakest schedule in the game, facing the padres, dbacks and giants so many times. Those teams all struggle mightily to score runs, and that’s almost 60 games.
The Dodgers had teams 1 and 2 in the wild card behind them in their division. (Facing Lincecum and Cain often doesn’t amount to facing “weakness”…talk about struggling to score runs!) Furthermore, the 4th and 5th best teams of the NL West also had better records respectively than the 4th and 5th teams in both the NL Central and NL East.
the dodgers are geniuses
don’t let pujols beat you
and they never did
Maybe the Twins Should take notes when pitching to A-Rod.
if the yankees make the world series and have to play the Phillies im Scared
Congrats to the Dodgers I can see where this is heading.