NLDS Game 1: St. Louis Cardinals at Los Angeles Dodgers
Both St. Louis and L.A. looked at times this season like the best teams in the National League, if not all of baseball, but both struggled to the finish line of the regular season. Which club can “turn it on” more quickly beginning Wednesday night with Game 1 of the NL Division Series?
St. Louis is a -140 money line favorite on WagerWeb.com for Game 1 and a -155 favorite to win the series.
Los Angeles nearly coughed up the NL West in record fashion but still managed to hang on to the best record in the NL. The Dodgers won the West by three games at the end, although the lead had grown to a high of 9 1/2 games in early June and was as much as six games as late as Sept. 24. It’s their first back-to-back division titles since 1977-78. L.A. won 95 games for the first time since ‘85 and went 50-32 at home, their best mark at Dodger Stadium since 1991.
“We’ve wobbled a little bit, but for us to avoid that, we just have to play our game,” said Game 1 starter Randy Wolf. “The last two games were big for us to show we had that fight and to get us to believe we could win again.”
Indeed, the Rockies had cut L.A.’s division lead to two games but the Dodgers rallied to win the final two of the regular-season series finale. L.A.’s magic number seems to be four runs: It is just 18-44 when scoring fewer than four runs.
The Cards won five of seven from L.A. this season. The key for the Dodgers is to hold Cards star Albert Pujols hitless. St. Louis is 15-24 when that happens. But it’s not like L.A. can pitch around Pujols, as Matt Holliday returned to MVP form when he was traded to the Cards – he had 51 RBIs in his first 58 games as the cleanup hitter for St. Louis.
The Game 1 starter for St. Louis will be Chris Carpenter, who was named NL Comeback Player of the Year and might win the Cy Young. He went 17-4 with a 2.24 ERA, pacing the National League in winning percentage and ERA. He struck out 144 against just 38 walks. The last time Carpenter finished a season healthy, the Cards won the World Series (2006). The righty was 2-0 with a 1.80 ERA against L.A. this season.
The Dodgers counter with Wolf, who was 11-7 with a 3.58 ERA this year. The lefty has never pitched in the postseason and was 0-1 with a 3.00 ERA against St. Louis this year.
Frankly, the only way L.A. can win this series is if Manny Ramirez becomes the playoff monster he always has been. But Manny hasn’t been the same since returning from that 50-game suspension in early July.
MLB Betting at WagerWeb.com
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