:format(webp)/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_image/image/21153227/183603158.0.jpg)
|
|
5:07pm Arizona time, TBS. Cardinals lead 2-0.
Delighted by the way the first two games of the series have gone, with the Cardinals beating both Greinke and Kershaw - and St. Louis now get to send their ace out for the opening game in Los Angeles. It has certainly helped that the Dodgers have gone 1-for-16 with runners in scoring position, and the Cardinals have done a very good job of picking who to pitch. They've issued three intentional walks, and these have been followed by two double-plays and back-to-back strikeouts. Can't expect such good fortune to continue, but the wins which they helped generate are already in the bank.
Los Angeles can't be happy to have lost those two games. There's some discussion about whether they will try to start Greinke and Kershaw again on short rest, but now they're two games down, Eric Stephen points out "That means the Dodgers would be just rearranging the same four pitchers in the next four games, only with their two best slightly diminished and/or limited." If Wainwright can reproduce the form he showed in the Division Series against Pittsburgh, where he threw a complete-game and allowed one earned run, then the Cardinals have an excellent chance of sending the Dodgers to the brink of elimination. The sooner that happens, the sooner I can enjoy the rest of the post-season.