Four Run First Inning

How do you silence over 40,000 fans and the entire city of Milwaukee?

David Freese hits a three-run home run.

Cardinals lead game six after the first inning, 4-1. Two homers so far, so I wonder if this will be another slugfest.

Who Will Face the Rangers?

The Texas Rangers embarrassed the Detroit Tigers in game six of the ALCS at the score of 15-5. They will move on to the World Series for the second consecutive year. There were a total of six home runs launched over the course of the game. The Tigers took the lead early, but the Rangers blew them away with a nine run third inning.

Nelson Cruz received the award for the American League Championship Most Valuable Player, and deservedly so. He hit six homers in this ALCS, which is the record for the most in any single postseason. Cruz is the first player to hit six or more home runs in a single postseason in two different years, and he still has the World Series ahead of him.

Progressive Likelihood of World Series Victory, Beyond the Box Score

Who will face the Rangers in the World Series? We may find out tonight. Beyond the Box Score favors the Cardinals.

Current Likelihood of Postseason Series Victory, Beyond the Box Score

The St. Louis Cardinals take on the Milwaukee Brewers at Miller Park tonight at 7:05 PM ET. The Cards lead the NLCS 3-2 and hope to eliminate the Brewers tonight in game six.

Edwin Jackson (12-9, 3.58 ERA, 1.44 WHIP, 148 SO)
vs.
Shaun Marcum (13-7, 3.54 ERA, 1.16 WHIP, 158 SO)

It's a rematch from game two where the Cards had won 12-3. I know I have been critical of the Cardinals' managing decisions regarding their pitching lately, but apparently Brewers fans are upset Marcum is starting tonight.

Game two may have been a fluke, according to Kevin Dame's latest visual he calls Paintomatic.

Brewers Cardinals Game 6 Starters by Kevin Dame

Cards Capitalize on Brewers Blunders

Game five between the St. Louis Cardinals and Milwaukee Brewers should have been close.
It wasn't.

Cardinals score 7.

Brewers score 1, commit 4 errors.

The Brewers pitching staff allowed four earned runs, but their defense was responsible for the other three unearned runs. The team shared the blame across the diamond with four errors, one short of the postseason record of five. The only positions in the infield who didn't contribute to their failures were the first basemen, Prince Fielder, and catcher, Jonathan Lucroy.

Jaime Garcia seemed to be pitching well, but found himself in a small bind in the top of the fifth inning. Tony La Russa continued his latest managerial trend and called for relief from the bullpen early, pulling Garcia from the game after 4.2 innings and recording only 68 total pitches.

I did not personally agree with the decision.

There were men on first and second with two outs in the fifth inning and Garcia had been sharp up to that point. It was a quality start worthy outing, especially when compared to game one.

Game One: 3 BB,1 HBP, 2 HR allowed, 5/6 extra base hits, 62% strike to pitch ratio.
Game Five: 0 BB, 0 HBP, 0 HR allowed, 1/7 extra base hits, 75% strike to pitch ratio.

La Russa seems to be very excitable after Garcia's meltdown in game one, which probably cost the Cardinals the win. Garcia should not have pitched to Fielder in that situation and La Russa received the blame for it. He seems to have taken that criticism to the extreme to try to prevent a repeat performance.

I understand the desire to preserve a lead, but it makes me wonder how this is affecting the starting rotation mentally. What will happen when the bullpen becomes too tired from being overworked?

Game six lands back in Milwaukee on Sunday where the Cardinals lead the NLCS 3-2.

Brewers Bounce Back in Beer Battle

I like alliteration. Now you know a little more about me.

The St. Louis Cardinals were favorites to win the National League Championship series for the first time going into yesterday's game. The Cards started scoring runs early, similar to the previous two games, but their pitching faltered and eventually lost 4-2.

Regardless of tonight's outcome in Busch Stadium, they will travel to Miller Park for game six; hence, the Beer Battle.

Get it?

Right.

Moving along.

If you read yesterday's article regarding my Dr. Jeckyll and Mr. Hyde comparison, then you may be wondering who earned what titles. Randy Wolf did very well allowing six hits and only two earned runs via two solo shots over seven innings. Kyle Lohse could not make it out of the fifth inning. He surrendered six hits (four doubles!) and three earned runs.

Mr. Hyde via Zombify in Picnik

Ladies and gentlemen, we have our monster.

I told you these pitchers were consistently inconsistent and they did not disappoint me. Either they're lights out or in the cellar.

Although I would have preferred the red hat on the good professor, Wolf earned the first quality start of this series. The Cards starting rotation has not seen the sixth inning since Chris Carpenter's shutout against the Phillies on Friday, October 7th. If they want to face the victor of the ALCS, then their starters need to start pitching deeper into the game and stop relying so much on their bullpen.

Tonight is game five and the last game hosted by the Cardinals. It is also a rematch from game one between Jaime Garcia and Zack Greinke. Garcia was on track for a respectable game, then fell apart in the fifth inning. He was responsible for six of the Brewers's runs in that 9-6 loss.

The Cardinals need to prevent the Brewers from winning this mini series in St. Louis if they stand any chance at winning the NLCS.

Tigers Force Game 6

Thursday's night game was a do-or-die situation for the Detroit Tigers. They delivered with a 7-5 victory over Texas, which forces a game six in Arlington on Saturday. Although the Rangers still lead the series 3-2, so the Tigers are still on the brink of elimination.

Justin Verlander allowed four earned runs, eight hits, and three walks over 7+ innings. How do you win when the game is on the line and your pitching is so unusually dismal? (This would be the perfect opportunity to say a line from Day[9]TV, but I will refrain to keep this blog professional. If you understand, then you are awesome.)

Just score more runs than the other team. Brilliant!

Fangraphs

The Rangers allowed four home runs, C.J. Wilson was responsible for three of them. Alex Avila and Ryan Raburn each launched solo home runs, while Delmon Young hit two bombs in the 4th and 6th innings.

To Verlander's credit, his numbers do not give him all the credit he may deserve. He tossed a career-high 133 pitches, 94 of them for strikes. Everything was going quite well. His final pitch actually reached 100 mph on the stadium radar gun, which is uncharacteristically fast for a starting pitcher especially so late into the game. But Nelson Cruz ejected it from the park hitting a two-run home run, his fifth this postseason.

Cruz seems to be vying for his own rendition of Reggie Jackson, Mr. October. The media may give it to him if he keeps this up.