The Cardinals don’t give up many hits to opposing batters, ranking fifth in the NL with only 8.4 hits allowed per game.
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It’s his time and his Cubs’ time in the NL Central, a division that has marked the Cardinal Way all these years. The atmosphere is civil, for the most part. The game is scheduled for a 6:45 p.m. start time and it will be televised nationally on TBS.
The Cubs reached this point by defeating the Pirates 4-0 Wednesday night behind a complete game shutout by Jake Arrieta.
Despite losing several key players to injuries, the Cardinals won a major-league-high 100 games, and manager Mike Matheny said the four-day rest between the regular season and playoffs “was well-timed for us”. This game will feature Lester (LHP) on the mound against the Cardinals, who have a 24-18 record when they take on a left-handed starter.
The Cubs are obviously risky offensively. Scully missed the team’s final series of the regular season because of a cold.
The Cubs are 3-9 in their last 12 visits to St. Louis but are 10-1 in their last 11 road games. But, without staggering out of the starting blocks, this team – one or both of those seasons – might have been able to avoid that dreaded Wild Card Game. He is 2-1 in the World Series.
Over the next several days, plenty of twentysomething fans will proudly say they have waited their whole lives for the Cubs to win it all. Soon Wild Card teams will be duking it out in one-game playoffs to see who will go home and who will still have a chance to make it to the World Series. The Cardinals have continued to find a way into the postseason, and once there do damage.
Taking the hill against the Cubs will be the right-hander Lackey. Lester has faced the Cardinals five times tis season and given up nine earned runs on 25 hits in 31.1 innings. Lester’s October record is 6-4 with a 2.57 ERA while Lackey is 7-5 with a 3.08 ERA in 21 career postseason games.
The soon-to-be 37-year-old Lackey, meanwhile, is pitching for $500,000 this season due to a odd contract stipulation at the end of the six-year, $83 million deal he signed with Boston. Lackey has a career postseason ERA of 3.08 and an fantastic 1.93 ERA at Busch Stadium this year. From August 13 through September 11, Cespedes had a. 333 average with 24 extra bases and more than 30 RBIs. The Cards seem to be in the playoffs every year, making the postseason commonplace in St. Louis.
Texas asked Joey Gallo and Ed Lucas to leave its Arizona Fall League team and travel to Toronto after star third baseman Adrian Beltre strained a muscle in his lower back during the Rangers’ 5-3 win Thursday. Blue Jays slugger Jose Bautista was expected in the lineup after leaving the opener early because of a sore right hamstring….
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The Cardinals will go away if Maddon’s young Cubs continue to roll. This shapes up as a whale of a series.
