The winner of tonight’s game will go on to face the Los Angeles Dodgers in the NLCS. Who will it be the Cardinals or Pirates? The Cardinals send veteran Adam Wainwright to the mound at home. The Pirates have Gerrit Cole, the young stud who only allowed two hits when he pitched in game two. These two teams know each other very well and it will be their 24th game playing each other.
The Pirates almost clinched a bid to the NLCS during Game 4; with a man on first, MVP-candidate Andrew McCutchen came up to bat with the possibility of hitting a walk-off home run at home. Instead, he flied out and sent the series back to St. Louis. This series has been everything that is people love about October baseball. In game 4, rookie Michael Wacha flirted with a no-hitter until the eighth inning when third baseman Pedro Alvarez hit a home run. In Games 1 and 2, the Cardinals and Pirates bats showed they both could hit the ball out of the park as well as play ‘small ball’.
This series is one of the most evenly matched of all the division series. The Pirates have scored 14 run while batting .236 and the Cardinals have scored 15 runs while batting .192. The Pirates have the best storyline of the playoffs, but I see the Cardinals advancing to the NLCS to play the Dodgers. The Cardinals are playing at home and have Wainwright, a guy who has performed in big situations before, pitching and future Hall of Fame catcher Yadier Molina catching. They have the playoff experience that should push them into the next round. The Pirates have been fun to watch, but they fall just short tonight. Pirates vs. Cardinals- who you takin?
