When the MLB postseason began last week, there were 10 teams vying for a trip to the World Series at the end of October, but after two crazy Wild-Card games and some exciting action in each league's Division Series, the field is narrowed down to four as the Los Angeles Dodgers and St. Louis Cardinals go head-to-head in the National League Championship Series and the Detroit Tigers and Boston Red Sox square off in the American League Championship Series.
The NL Central champion Cardinals went all the way down to a game five with their division-rival Pittsburgh Pirates, but were able to squeeze out a 6-1 Game 5 victory at home while the NL West champion Dodgers were able to stun the Atlanta Braves in four games to punch their ticket to St. Louis for a best-of-seven series with a trip to the World Series hanging in the balance.
Game 1 kicks things off Friday night at Busch Stadium. The Dodgers send Zack Greinke (15-4, 2.63 ERA regular season) to the hill on six days rest after he took the loss in Game 2 of the NLDS while yielding two runs on six hits. Greinke is 0-1 with a 3.00 ERA this postseason and 1-2 with a 5.56 ERA in the playoffs in three starts. The Cardinals counter with Joe Kelly (10-5, 2.69 ERA) Friday night after he had a no decision in Game 3 to the Pirates while lasting 5.1 innings and allowing two earned runs on five hits and four walks in the NLDS. This postseason, Kelly is 0-0 with a 3.38 ERA while all-time he is 0-0 with a 2.77 ERA through two starts.
Carlos Beltran is a key player to watch during this series after he blasted two homers in the NLDS and tied for the postseason lead by knocking in six RBIs. Beltran is one of the most potent hitters in the postseason all-time as he has a life-time batting average of .345 and is eighth all-time in the playoffs with 16 homers entering the ninth playoff series of his career, and he also has 31 RBIs.
Meanwhile, for Los Angeles, Hanley Ramirez (.500) and rookie Yasiel Puig (.471) boasted the top two NL averages in the Division Series while Hanley belted six extra-base hits with four doubles, a triple and a homer and plated six RBIs to tie for the Division Series lead. They were both tied for second with eight hits during the series. Outfielder Carl Crawford led the Division Series by scoring six runs and tied for the lead by blasting three homers while hitting .353.
St. Louis' John Jay trailed closely behind Crawford with five runs scored in the NLDS, good enough to rank third statistically.
NL Cy Young Award favorite Clayton Kershaw will take the mound for the Dodgers in Saturday's Game 2 while rookie Michael Wacha will toe the rubber for the Cards. Kershaw's regular season 1.88 ERA led the majors.
When the series shifts over the Los Angeles Monday, Adam Wainwright will take the hill for Game 3 while the Dodgers have yet to announce a starter. The series will continue with Game 4 on Tuesday in L.A. and then Game 5 Wednesday if necessary, before shifting back to St. Louis for a possible Game 6 and 7 on Oct. 18 and Oct. 19.
The Dodgers will look to get back to the World Series for the first time since 1988, while the Cardinals will hope to get back to the promised land for the first time since winning it all in 2011.
Meanwhile, over in the ALCS, the AL East Champion Red Sox earned their way in by knocking off their division rival Tampa Bay Rays in four games while the NL Central Tigers went down to the wire against the Oakland Athletics, defeating them 3-0 in Game 5 to get into this series. The best-of-seven series kicks off on Saturday night when Anibal Sanchez (14-8, AL-leading 2.57 ERA) mans the mound for the Tigers while Jon Lester (15-8, 3.75 ERA regular season) takes the hill for the Red Sox at Fenway Park.
Sanchez is 0-1 with a 10.38 ERA in the postseason after the A's tagged him for five runs and three homers in 4.1 innings pitched, and is 1-3 with a 3.28 ERA all-time in the postseason. Lester, meanwhile, is 1-0 with a 2.35 ERA this postseason after holding the Rays to just two earned runs on three hits through seven solid innings in his last outing. He's 3-3 with a 2.54 ERA in his lifetime in the playoffs.
Boston center fielder Jacoby Ellsbury led all players in the Division Series in average (.500), hits (9, tied) and stolen bases (4), but failed to collect any homers or RBIs. Designated hitter David Ortiz led all players during the Division Series in on-base percentage (.556), was second in OPS (1.479) and third in slugging (.923).
Victor Martinez of the Tigers tied Ellsbury for the lead with nine hits while hitting .450 with one homer and two RBIs. The Tigers will look to get Prince Fielder going after he hit just .278 with no extra-base hits and just one RBI, while they hope third baseman Miguel Cabrera will get his bat hot after hitting .250 with one homer and three RBIs in the ALDS.
The series will continue with Game 2 from Fenway Park if necessary while the starting pitchers have yet to be announced. The series shifts to Detroit for Game 3 and Game 4 Tuesday and Wednesday and will stay at Comerica Park for Game 5 if necessary on Thursday. If needed, Game 6 and Game 7 will be played at Fenway Park on Oct. 19 and 20.
The Red Sox look to get back to the World Series for the first time since winning The Fall Classic in 2007 while the Tigers look to get back to the World Series for the first time since getting swept out of it in 2012 by the San Francisco Giants.
All four of these teams continue their quests for championship glory when the NLCS and ALCS kick off this weekend.
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