NLCS: Los Angeles Dodgers vs. St. Louis Cardinals
Betting on the St. Louis Cardinals:
St. Louis booked a return trip to the NLCS after burying the Pirates in the tightly contested division series that saw the Cards came out on top. It was the third straight NLCS berth for the Cards who won the World Series in 2010.
Starting Rotation:
The biggest question heading into the postseason for the Cardinals’ rotation was whether its lack of experience will cause problems for the NL’s No. 1 seeded team. Prior to St. Louis’ series against the Pirates, only veteran Adam Wainwright had postseason starting experience. Lance Lynn had two in his young three-year career, while rookies Joe Kelly and Michael Wacha were just about to get their feet wet in the playoffs. The NLDS against the Pirates, pitching wise, turned out to be all Wainwright and Wacha.
Wainwright is now 2-0 in the postseason winning Games 1 and 5 in the NLDS and carries into the NLCS a 1.13 ERA. He started once this season against the Dodgers and picked up a loss, but the Cards are 3-1 in his last four starts against the team from LA. Wacha continued where he left off when he nearly threw a no-hitter in an otherwise dazzling pitching performance against the Nationals back in September. He registered his first postseason career win by saving the Cards in a one-hit, seven innings job, in Game 4 of the NLCS.
Shelby Miller, who was third in wins (15-9) in the Cards’ rotation in the regular season, was put in the bullpen in the NLDS but St. Louis isn’t ruling out a starting gig for the NLCS.
Bullpen:
If Miller remains in the bullpen, he will join the top reliever Edward Mujica, Kevin Siegrist, Seth Maness, Sam Freeman, Carlos Martinez and Tyler Lyons. Mujica had 37 saves in the regular season. Playoffs-experienced relievers like, Fernando Salas, John Axford and Jake Westbrook are also in the mix.
Offense:
Carlos Beltran leads an offense that stands above in most categories offensively in the NL during the regular season; the Cards then had the most runs (783), most doubles (322), and most RBIs with 745. In the postseason, it seems like the Cards are experiencing a bit of a struggle at the plate. St. Louis enters the NLDS with a .192 batting average in the postseason. Beltran though hasn’t lost a step banging in a pair of homers while driving 6 RBIs and posting a .944 OPS. Matt Holliday, Matt Adams, Yadier Molina, and David Freese will look to recover their power this postseason in the NLCS.
Trends:
The Cardinals are 3-1 in their last 4 games in Dodger Stadium. They’re also 9-1 in their last 10 home games.
Bet now on the St. Louis Cardinals
Schedule:
| Game | Matchup | Date |
| Game 1 | LA Dodgers @ St. Louis | Fri, Oct 11 |
| Game 2 | LA Dodgers @ St. Louis | Sat, Oct 12 |
| Game 3 | St. Louis @ LA Dodgers | Mon, Oct 14 |
| Game 4 | St. Louis @ LA Dodgers | Tue, Oct 15 |
| Game 5* | St. Louis @ LA Dodgers | Wed, Oct 16 |
| Game 6* | LA Dodgers @ St. Louis | Fri, Oct 18 |
| Game 7* | LA Dodgers @ St. Louis | Sat, Oct 19 |
Betting on the Los Angeles Dodgers:
People were all but writing the highly-payrolled Dodgers a eulogy when it posted a deeply frustrating record in the first half of the season. They were all wrong. The arrival of Yasiel Puig in the roster sparked the Dodgers and commenced one of the best second-half in MLB history to win the NL West division title. After tearing apart the Atlanta Braves, Don Mattingly’s squad marches onto the NLCS for the first time since 2009.
Starting Rotation:
The Dodgers decided to rest Clayton Kershaw some more and instead start Zack Greinke for Game 1 of the NLCS against St. Louis. Kershaw and Greinke were both in the top five in the NL’s ERA after the regular season; Kershaw was No.1 with 1.83, the only player who had lower than 2.0, while Greinke’s 2.63 was fifth. If Greinke gets the first game assignment, then certainly, Kershaw has Game 2 locked up.
The next guys in the rotation aren’t too shabby either namely Hyun-Jin Ryu (14-8, 3.00 ERA) and Ricky Nolasco (13-11, 3.70). Although Ryu had trouble in his first postseason career start giving up four runs and six hits over three innings of work Game 3 of the NLDS against the Atlanta Braves. Still, he will have a lot of rest, thanks to the Dodgers dispatching Atlanta in just four games.
Bullpen:
Another key for the Dodgers in the NLCS is their bullpen. Their relievers combined for an ERA of 3.49, ninth-best in the NL. Kenley Jansen and Brandon League totaled for 42 saves in 131 innings in the regular season. Midseason acquisition of Brian Wilson is becoming to look like a good hire as the bearded, former Giant, posted a 0.66 ERA in 18 games before October. In the postseason, Wilson have already appeared in three games and pitched 3 innings and even got a win in Game 4 of the NLDS when he pitched a scoreless eighth inning leaving Jansen to finish the job.
Offense:
Atlanta’s pitching staff was wiped out alive by the smoking Dodgers offense in the NLDS. Hanley Ramirez, Carl Crawford, Adrian Gonzalez, and Juan Uribe combined for 19 of the Dodgers’ 26 RBIs in that series. Their league-leading postseason batting average of .333 was done without injured star Matt Kemp and Andre Ethier. The Dodgers started the scoring party early in the games of the NLDS posting 13 runs in the first three innings through the series.
Trends:
Los Angeles is 3-1 in its last 4 meetings with the Cardinals. In addition, they are 3-1 in their last 4 trips to St. Louis.
Bet now on the Los Angeles Dodgers
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