NLDS Game 2: St. Louis Cardinals at L.A. Dodgers
The Los Angeles Dodgers beat one Cy Young candidate on the Cardinals’ staff in Wednesday night’s opener of the NLDS, and now they see another one in Adam Wainwright in Game 2 on Thursday night.
The Cardinals are -114 money line betting favorites tonight on WagerWeb.com.
The Dodgers have to be feeling great after the 5-3 win over Chris Carpenter in Game 1. Carpenter entered the game 5-0 career against the Dodgers in the regular season and became just the fifth pitcher in MLB history to lose to a team in the postseason that he was 5-0 or better against in his regular season career.
Both offenses were sluggish, as the teams combined to strand 30 runners, setting a record for a nine-inning postseason game. St. Louis stranded 14 and was 3-for-13 hitting with runners in scoring position. It’s pretty obvious that L.A. won’t let Albert Pujols beat it – twice in the first four innings of Game 1, the Dodgers intentionally walked Pujols, who hit just .222 in seven games against the Dodgers during the regular season.
The 3-hour, 54-minute Game 1 outlasted the previous record for a nine-inning Division Series game by three minutes. This is the Cardinals’ fifth Division Series since 2001. It is the first time in that span they’ve dropped a series opener.
Thus tonight’s start is huge for Wainwright. He has made nine postseason appearances and has never allowed a run – but those were all in relief. He hasn’t lost against the Dodgers this season, but then again, neither had Carpenter at the start of the series. Wainwright was 1-0 with a 1.20 ERA in two starts against the Dodgers this season and was 12-1 overall in road starts.
Dodgers SS Rafael Furcal had three hits with an RBI for Los Angeles in Game 1 and is batting .438 against Wainwright, who led the NL in wins, finishing 19-8 with a 2.63 ERA
The Dodgers throw another lefty in 21-year-old Clayton Kershaw. He started two games against the Cardinals this season. On July 29, Kershaw threw eight scoreless innings and struck out seven but earned a no-decision. On Aug. 19 he gave up two runs and walked four in only 3 2/3 innings.
Bet on baseball at WagerWeb.com
(No Ratings Yet)
Loading ...
