NL Playoff Matchups

[Edgy MD]

Typical six-hour, 23-minute game.

A long time to wait to get the wind knocked out of you.

[Frayed Knot]

Typical six-hour, 23-minute game.

Unfortunately, yeah. This one didn't have nearly the back and forth as either of the other long post-season games of (semi) recent vintage:
- Braves/Astros (Gm 4, NLDS 2005; 7-6 Astros - 18 innings/5:50)
or
- Mets/Astros (Gm 6, NLCS 1986; 7-6 Mets - 16 innings/4:42) ... although we all thought that one was a marathon at the time

This game was actually headed for a sub-3:00 finish (as a 1-0/8.5 inning game it bleedin' well ought to be) until the pitching change + Giants rally in top 9 + the Nats being forced to hit in the bottom of 9th pushed it to just over 3 hours of regulation.
So the "second" 9-inning game took right around 3:15-3:20 despite just 1 run scored on a total of just 5 hits and 6 walks (2 intentional), where 3 of those 11 base-runners were erased on the paths and there was just one in-inning pitching change.

That all points to nothing but slow pace, and particularly to relievers who tend to work much slower than starters no matter what the game situation.

[smg58]

Frayed Knot wrote: Whoa! No way would I be yanking Zimmermann here (2 outs in 9th after a walk).

All for trying to paint the corners too carefully against one batter when he was otherwise unhittable. There's definitely a tendency to micromanage in the playoffs, and this one came back to bite the Nats big time.

[Frayed Knot]

According to what Williams said after the game, they decided before the inning began to pull Zimmermann if he put someone on base. Sometimes that type of pre-decision gets you into trouble if you're not willing to reconsider it based on the circumstances. I think they were also spooked a bit by that loud foul ball on the 2-0 count on the way to that walk.

And even though Storen had been real good since replacing Soriano in the weeks leading up to the end of the season, I still just hate replacing the known with the unknown in that type of case.
Soriano, meanwhile, who had fallen out of favor to the extent that he was a surprise even to make the post-season roster despite the big contract and that he was the closer from the beginning of of 2013 until around late August, tossed a 1-2-3 inning in the 16th: K, Pop-up, Pop-up



Nat bats have now scored just 3 runs in essentially 3 games (27 innings) against good, but aging and recently shaky, pitchers, now have to go cross country and face Bumgarner.
Things not looking too good for the team who was the popular favorite coming in.

[Guest d'Kong76]

Washington at San Francisco
When: 5:00 PM ET, Monday, October 6, 2014
Where: AT&T Park, San Francisco, California
SportsDirect Inc.

After recording a National League-best 96 victories during the regular season, the Washington Nationals will need one on Monday just to remain alive in their best-of-five Division Series versus the San Francisco Giants. Winning Game 3 will be tough against host San Francisco, which secured its NL-best 10th straight victory on the strength of a ninth-inning rally and Brandon Belt's homer nine frames later in a 2-1 triumph on Saturday. "Who'd have thought we'd have come here and won the first two?" Giants hurler Tim Hudson said after the 6-hour, 23-minute marathon. "Everybody in America probably didn't think we had a shot. But everybody in this locker room knew that we did."

What the NL East-champion Nationals know is their task on Monday will be a difficult one against Madison Bumgarner, who struck out 10 and scattered four hits to lead the Giants to an 8-0 rout of Pittsburgh in the wild-card game on Wednesday. Doug Fister will provide the opposition on Monday but has allowed Pablo Sandoval to record four hits in five career plate appearances. The sizable Sandoval certainly came through on Saturday as he delivered an RBI double with two out in the ninth inning to improve to 21-for-57 during his club-record 13-game postseason hitting streak.

TV:
5:07 p.m. ET, MLBN

PITCHING MATCHUP:
Nationals RH Doug Fister (16-6, 2.41 ERA) vs. Giants LH Madison Bumgarner (19-10, 2.86)

Fister answered a three-game losing streak by winning his final four starts of the regular season - in dominating fashion, no less. The 30-year-old scattered three hits and struck out nine in a complete-game gem versus Miami on Sept. 26. Fister, who has yielded four earned runs on 15 hits in his last four outings (28 2/3 innings), suffered the loss against San Francisco on Aug. 22 after permitting four runs in six frames of a 10-3 setback.

Bumgarner won five of his final six decisions of the regular season but suffered the tough-luck loss in his lone meeting with Washington in 2014. The 25-year-old permitted two runs on eight hits in seven innings en route to a 2-1 setback on June 10. Bumgarner owns a 2-3 mark with a slim 2.60 ERA and 1.09 WHIP in seven career starts versus the Nationals.

WALK-OFFS:
1. San Francisco C Buster Posey is 4-for-10 in the series and 6-for-15 in the postseason.
2. Washington 3B Anthony Rendon, who is 5-for-11 over the first two games of the set, is 3-for-5 with a double in his career versus Bumgarner.
3. The Giants dropped the first two contests at home in the 2012 NLDS versus Cincinnati and rallied to win before going on to capture the World Series title.
********************************
LA Dodgers at St. Louis
When: 9:00 PM ET, Monday, October 6, 2014
Where: Busch Stadium, St. Louis, Missouri
SportsDirect Inc.

The St. Louis Cardinals attempt to gain the upper hand in their National League Division Series when they host the Los Angeles Dodgers for Game 3 on Monday. NL Central champion St. Louis pulled off an improbable comeback against Los Angeles ace Clayton Kershaw and posted a 10-9 victory in the opener and rallied to forge a tie in Game 2 before Matt Kemp led off the eighth inning with a homer to give the Dodgers a 3-2 triumph. Zach Greinke pitched a whale of a game, allowing two hits over seven scoreless frames before being replaced after initially taking the mound to start the eighth.

Los Angeles will need to find a way to control Matt Carpenter, who belted a solo homer and a three-run double in the opener and hit the tying two-run shot in Game 2. The Dodgers have a pair of hot hitters themselves, with one being very unlikely. Kemp is 5-for-9 over the first two games while A.J. Ellis has recorded five hits in eight at-bats (4-for-5 in Game 1) with a homer, two RBIs and four runs scored.

TV:
9:07 p.m. ET, Fox Sports 1

PITCHING MATCHUP:
Dodgers LH Hyun-Jin Ryu (14-7, 3.38 ERA) vs. Cardinals RH John Lackey (14-10, 3.82)

Ryu will be making his first start since Sept. 12, when he was battered for four runs and five hits in one inning before exiting with shoulder inflammation. The 27-year-old South Korean lost two of his last three decisions but allowed more than three runs only once in his last nine starts. Ryu is 1-1 in two career regular-season outings against the Cardinals, losing at St. Louis on June 27, but scattered three hits over seven scoreless innings en route to victory in Game 3 of last year's NL Championship Series.

Lackey was a hard-luck loser to the Cubs in his final regular-season start, allowing just two runs over 6 2/3 innings at Chicago on Sept. 24. The 35-year-old, who went 3-3 with a 4.30 ERA in 10 outings after being acquired from Boston, yielded fewer than three earned runs in seven of his last eight turns. Lackey is 5-3 lifetime with a 1.93 ERA against Los Angeles in the regular season and 6-5 with a 3.03 ERA in 19 career postseason games, including three relief appearances.

WALK-OFFS:
1. Los Angeles RF Yasiel Puig has struck out in each of his last five at-bats, including all four in Game 2.
2. St. Louis won all three home games against the Dodgers in last year's NLCS.
3. RHP Dan Haren is tentatively slated to start Game 4 for Los Angeles on Tuesday, while RHP Shelby Miller makes his first career postseason start for St. Louis.

[Frayed Knot]

Washington at San Francisco When: 5:00 PM ET, Monday, October 6, 2014 Where: AT&T Park, San Francisco, California 5:07 p.m. ET, MLBN PITCHING MATCHUP: Nationals RH Doug Fister (16-6, 2.41 ERA) vs. Giants LH Madison Bumgarner (19-10, 2.86) Fister answered a three-game losing streak by winning his final four starts of the regular season - in dominating fashion, no less. The 30-year-old scattered three hits and struck out nine in a complete-game gem versus Miami on Sept. 26. Fister, who has yielded four earned runs on 15 hits in his last four outings (28 2/3 innings), suffered the loss against San Francisco on Aug. 22 after permitting four runs in six frames of a 10-3 setback. Bumgarner won five of his final six decisions of the regular season but suffered the tough-luck loss in his lone meeting with Washington in 2014. The 25-year-old permitted two runs on eight hits in seven innings en route to a 2-1 setback on June 10. Bumgarner owns a 2-3 mark with a slim 2.60 ERA and 1.09 WHIP in seven career starts versus the Nationals.

What a shitty report, the guy doesn't even mention how stunning it would be if the Giants complete the sweep!!

[smg58]

Mets � Willets Point wrote: Edgy MD wrote: Ah, they took Petit out! I remember him when he was a wee lad.

Petit is an interesting case. Plenty of high-upside, raw talent prospects get it quickly, and plenty fall by the wayside, but I don't know (perhaps it's just perception) of that many players who started playing up to their talent level well after their prospect luster wore off. Of the top of my head, I can think of Carlos Gomez and Brandon Phillips. Can anybody think of others?

[Lefty Specialist]

The sizable Sandoval

I guess they didn't want to use 'The Ponderous Panda'.

[Zvon]

Not finding the Nats game on TV.

[Guest themetfairy]

It's on the MLB Network.

[Guest LeiterWagnerFasterStrongr]

Plating three in the seventh, behind Fister, the Nats are looking like they'll extend the series.

This might be the first year in a great many moons in which I'd much rather see either AL contender take the flag over our circuit. (The alternative being to root for the Cards, Doyers, Nats, or the ever-increasingly-irritating Giants.)

[Frayed Knot]

Now let's see if Storen can avoid blowing his 3rd straight post-season game (going back to 2012).
And seeing as how he's been given a 4 run lead here, this would be a major disaster if he can't close it out.

oe: And he quickly starts off 1B - 2B

[Frayed Knot]

But Storen survives.



Hey, a sub-3:00 playoff game! Wasn't sure if those were permitted these days.

[Guest Mets � Willets Point]

We're a heartbeat from an all-California series. As if they need more reason to be insufferable.

[MFS62]

Mets � Willets Point wrote: We're a heartbeat from an all-California series. As if they need more reason to be insufferable.

Do what I do when those teams meet, root for the meteor strike.

Later

[Ceetar]

MFS62 wrote: Mets � Willets Point wrote: We're a heartbeat from an all-California series. As if they need more reason to be insufferable. Do what I do when those teams meet, root for the meteor strike. Later

statistically speaking you probably want to root for the earthquake.

[MFS62]

Ceetar wrote: We're a heartbeat from an all-California series. As if they need more reason to be insufferable. Do what I do when those teams meet, root for the meteor strike. Later statistically speaking you probably want to root for the earthquake.

The meteor could hit the field with minimal collateral damage. But if you're going after the "insufferable" fans as well, rooting for the San Andreas Fault is ok.

Later

[Guest d'Kong76]

LA Dodgers at St. Louis
When: 5:00 PM ET, Tuesday, October 7, 2014
Where: Busch Stadium, St. Louis, Missouri
SportsDirect Inc.

The Los Angeles Dodgers turn to their ace in an effort to stave off elimination when they visit the St. Louis Cardinals for Game 4 of their National League Division Series on Tuesday. Clayton Kershaw gets the start on short rest as NL West champion Los Angeles finds itself down 2-1 in the best-of-five matchup after dropping a 3-1 decision in Game 3. The Dodgers received a strong six-inning effort from Hyun-Jin Ryu and forged a tie on Hanley Ramirez's RBI double in the sixth before Kolten Wong belted a two-run homer off Scott Elbert a frame later.

Matt Carpenter continued his offensive onslaught with a double and a solo blast as he improved to 6-for-12 with three doubles, three homers and seven RBIs in the series. The NL Central-champion Cardinals have had their way with several Los Angeles pitchers, pounding Kershaw for eight runs in the series opener while reaching the relief trio of Elbert, J.P. Howell and Pedro Baez for a total of six runs in 3 1/3 innings. With a victory Tuesday, St. Louis advances to the NL Championship Series for the fourth consecutive year.

TV:
5:07 p.m. ET, Fox Sports 1

PITCHING MATCHUP:
Dodgers LH Clayton Kershaw (0-1, 10.80 ERA) vs. Cardinals RH Shelby Miller (2014 regular season: 10-9, 3.74)

Kershaw gets the chance to redeem himself on three days' rest after imploding in the seventh inning of his series-opening loss. The overwhelming favorite to win his second straight Cy Young Award and third in four years, he entered the frame with a 6-2 lead but allowed hits to six of the eight batters he faced before being lifted and ultimately was charged with eight runs in 6 2/3 innings. The 26-year-old Kershaw also pitched on three days' rest in last year's NLDS, yielding two unearned runs and three hits over six innings in a no-decision against Atlanta.

Miller will be making his first career postseason start after allowing three runs over 4 1/3 innings in three relief appearances over the previous two years. The Houston native, who is three days shy of his 24th birthday, has not lost since Aug. 11 - going 2-0 over his final eight starts of the regular season. Miller, who made his only relief appearance of the campaign against the Dodgers on July 20, fell to 1-1 in five games - three starts - versus the club after surrendering six runs over five frames in a loss at Los Angeles on June 29.

WALK-OFFS:
1. Ramirez collected three of Los Angeles' seven hits in Game 3.
2. Carpenter, who hit eight home runs in 158 regular-season contests, is the first player in franchise history to homer in three straight games of the same playoff series. Albert Pujols went deep in three consecutive contests spanning two series in 2004.
3. Dodgers CF Yasiel Puig has struck out eight times in his last nine at-bats, ending a string of seven in a row with a sixth-inning triple Monday.
***********************************
Washington at San Francisco
When: 9:00 PM ET, Tuesday, October 7, 2014
Where: AT&T Park, San Francisco, California
SportsDirect Inc.

Bryce Harper has provided the fireworks while Anthony Rendon has been far more consistent during the Washington Nationals' first three contests of the postseason. The duo will need more of the same if Washington hopes to stave off elimination when it visits the San Francisco Giants for Game 4 of their National League Division Series on Tuesday. Harper belted his second solo homer of the set to put an exclamation point on the Nationals' 4-1 win on Monday while Rendon added two singles to improve to 7-for-15 in the postseason.

When considering playoff success, look no further than Pablo Sandoval. The Giants' mammoth star ripped a pair of singles to extend his postseason hitting streak to 14 games, which is one shy of the NL record set by Atlanta's Marquis Grissom (1995-96) and three short of Hank Bauer (1956-58), Derek Jeter (1998-99) and Manny Ramirez (2003-04) for the major-league mark. Sandoval is just 1-for-10 in his career versus Tuesday starter Gio Gonzalez, while Harper has struck out four times while going 1-for-8 against San Francisco's Ryan Vogelsong.

TV:
9:07 p.m. ET, Fox Sports 1

PITCHING MATCHUP:
Nationals LH Gio Gonzalez (10-10, 3.57 ERA) vs. Giants RH Ryan Vogelsong (8-13, 4.00)

Gonzalez finished the regular season with a flourish, winning four of his final five starts - highlighted by a 3-0 triumph over the New York Mets on Sept. 25 in which he allowed one hit and struck out a career-high 12 over seven innings. The 29-year-old recorded a 2.48 ERA in September, which is over a full run less than the mark he posted this season. Gonzalez owns a 2-2 career record versus the Giants but did not face them this season as he missed the series in June due to shoulder inflammation while his turn in the rotation didn't come to pass during the three-game set in Washington from Aug. 22-24.

While Gonzalez excelled in the final month, Vogelsong limped to an 0-4 mark with a 5.53 ERA in September. The 37-year-old permitted four runs for the third straight outing en route to a 4-1 setback to San Diego on Sept. 26. Vogelsong was blitzed for six runs in as many innings of a 9-2 loss to Washington on June 9 before receiving a no-decision after allowing three runs and four hits in 5 1/3 frames on Aug. 24.

WALK-OFFS:
1. Washington 2B Asdrubal Cabrera, who recorded an RBI single on Monday, has gone 1-for-4 in each game of the series while posting the same numbers in his career versus Vogelsong.
2. San Francisco 1B Brandon Belt is 7-for-17 during the postseason and has hit safely in each of his last eight contests.
3. Should the Nationals emerge victorious, they'll send RHP Stephen Strasburg to the mound against Giants RHP Jake Peavy in Thursday's decisive contest in Washington.

[MFS62]

That "post season" hitting streak of Hank Bauer was accomplished only in World Series games. That is lost on many of the current sportscasters who like to use stats like that.
For a Mets tie-in, Bauer was a teammate of original Met Gene Woodling.

Later

[Guest Mets � Willets Point]

I was referring to the insufferability of Californians in general.

[Guest Mets � Willets Point]

On the upside, it's nice to have an excuse to listen to Vin Scully. If only the producers at KLAC would tone down the music and sound effects between innings.

[Edgy MD]

A lot of chatter out there about Yasiel Puig being benched.

[Guest d'Kong76]

He's not in the starting lineup.

[Guest LeiterWagnerFasterStrongr]

Kershaw gets touched in an ill-timed bad way, for a three-run-go-ahead jobber from Matt Adams*. I don't know how to feel about this.



*Lefty-lefty, no less!

[Guest d'Kong76]

Adams could show just little more HR exuberance!

[Frayed Knot]

All these StL HRs in this series have been lefty-lefty

That was an awful lot of strutting down the 1st base line by Adams for a HR that cleared the fence by about 18 inches

[Frayed Knot]

Puig as a pinch-runner could work to the benefit of either team depending on how things go.

[Edgy MD]

Cards again.

[Zvon]

Edgy MD wrote: Cards again.

GAH!

If it ends up Cards/SF I don't even think I can watch. And Cards/Nats would be worse!

I guess Kershaw wants to wear that post game loser tag. Again, cruising along and BAM! I was impressed he stayed on the bench after being pulled.

Everyone seems to agree that sitting Puig was a good move. I not only disagree, I am shocked people aren't all over this. Sure, he was having a shit series but in a game of this magnitude how do you put his potential on the shelf? Was the triple last night him coming out of his funk? We'll never know.

[Guest d'Kong76]

[fimg=450:34bqld4t]http://www.trbimg.com/img-5434344b/turbine/la-puig-20141007/750/750x422[/fimg:34bqld4t]
I'm gonna be a true Yankee one day.