Rangers and Redbirds

The Texas Rangers defeated the Detroit Tigers on Saturday to win the ALCS 4-2.

One day later the St. Louis Cardinals beat the Milwaukee Brewers to win the NLCS 4-2.

This Wordle image was created using the all the players on each Championship team's roster with a WAR of 0.5 or higher, then weighted as such.

World Series, St. Louis Cardinals and Texas Rangers (Wordle)

The Cards are my new home team and made a fantastic turnaround from 10 games behind in the Wild Card race in late August to where they are today: National League Champions. TLR may get criticized a lot, but you can't argue with results, especially with all the injuries they had to endure. I will be cheering for them on the outside.

The Rangers ball club appears to be built better with the best team batting average in the Majors (.283), second best slugging percentage (.460), and second most home runs (210). They can hit, run, and have great depth in the bullpen. Ron Washington is a great manager who is both intelligent and very entertaining to watch. This will be the Rangers' second consecutive appearance in the World Series, as well as their second appearance overall, and is among the six Major League organizations who have never won a World Series crown. To top it all off, Nolan Ryan was my childhood idol.

Will the Cardinals win their 11th World Series or will the Rangers win their first?

I'll be honest. I really don't mind who wins the World Series.

Happy Flight

The St. Louis Cardinals just defeated the Milwaukee Brewers 12-6 and won the NLCS 4-2. There were six homers hit in the first three innings, but the ball stayed inside the park from that point onward. That ties the record for most homers in a game, which the Texas Rangers and Detroit Tigers also tied yesterday.

David Freese received the award for the National League Championship Most Valuable Player. He was great in the regular season and outstanding in the postseason. A lot of credit has to go to the relief pitchers in the Cardinals bullpen since the starting pitching has been so poor as of late.

David Freese, NLCS MVP from ESPN.com

Congratulations to the Cards. Good luck in the World Series against the Rangers.

Have a happy flight home.

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.