Sunday, October 16, 2011

NLCS Game 6: Cardinals at Brewers

US Presswire photo
The Cardinals have a chance to clinch the NL pennant tonight.
One half of the Fall Classic has been set: The Texas Rangers are back for the second straight season after pounding the Detroit Tigers into submission last night. Tonight, the St. Louis Cardinals try to do the same to the Milwaukee Brewers, though they'll face a tougher challenge than their AL counterparts.

The Brewers, as we've been saying for weeks, had baseball's best home record this season. And their success has continued through the postseason; they're currently 4-1 at Miller Park this month. Of course, they now have to win two in a row. And tonight, they'll need to win with Shaun Marcum (who has looked horrible during the postseason) on the mound.

I would imagine Ron Roenicke will have a quick hook with his starter, understanding his team has no more margin for error. We already know Tony La Russa won't be afraid to pull his starter, Edwin Jackson, early. The Cardinals have yet to see their bullpen record fewer than 12 outs in any game of this series...

NL CHAMPIONSHIP SERIES - GAME 6
ST. LOUIS CARDINALS at MILWAUKEE BREWERS
Where: Miller Park
Gametime: 8:05 p.m.
TV: TBS
Radio: WSPZ (570 AM), XM 89
Weather: Roof closed
STARTING LINEUPS
CARDINALS
SS Rafael Furcal
CF Jon Jay
1B Albert Pujols
RF Lance Berkman
LF Matt Holliday
3B David Freese
C Yadier Molina
2B Nick Punto
P Edwin Jackson

BREWERS
RF Corey Hart
CF Nyjer Morgan
LF Ryan Braun
1B Prince Fielder
2B Rickie Weeks
3B Jerry Hairston
SS Yuniesky Betancourt
C Jonathan Lucroy
P Shaun Marcum

27 comments:

bobn said...

How's the kid doing in AZ?

Google Translate said...

Mark Z: "Weather: Roof closed"

Translation: "Wimps"

natsfan1a said...

La Russa = Captain Hook. Go, Cardinals!

gonatsgo said...

Bobn - agreed -- hey Mark, need a Nats fix - can we get an update on the wonderkids in the afl?

Not Mark Z said...

It's all right here, although you'll have to click around a bit:

http://mlb.mlb.com/mlb/events/afl/index.jsp

But be advised, it's not all that pretty...

natsfan1a said...

For AFL Nats-stats-related clicking around start here.

natsfan1a said...

Oooh, look what else I found for AFL/Winter Leagues.

gonatsgo said...

Thanks for the info!

natsfan1a said...

You're welcome. fwiw, Wilson Ramos is listed on the Tigres de Aragua roster but doesn't show up on the Nats offseason stats page.

Eugene in Oregon said...

Caribbean league rosters can be quite fluid. Ramos may be taking an extra couple of weeks off before he starts playing with his home-town team (at which point his stats will start appearing). When I lived in Santo Domingo -- back in the last millennium -- established major league players from the DR (like Tony Pena or Pedro Guerrero) often 'signed' with the team that had given them their start, but would only really begin playing in the second half of the season, trying to get their team into the league playoffs. Then, if their team won the league championship, they'd play for them in the Caribbean World Series (by which time a lot of the gringos were ready to head home anyway for a break before Spring Training started).

Just wonderin' said...

I thought the post-season was supposed to be about pitching?

baseballswami said...

I hear you about the pitching. Only Carpenter has pitched a lot of innings, starters don't have the wins - it's been all bullpen. Funny thing is -- both nl and al have been similar.Strange year all around. I really wanted every series to go the full seven so I hope the brewers pick it up and stage a comeback.

baseballswami said...

All right - so did I call that? 5-4 now and only the second. Slugfest so far.

FS said...

no one told me there are two home run derby this season?

I really don't think Brewers lineup is as potent as people believe. I am sure their stadium has a lot to do with it. Same thing with Rangers lineup. The other day I looked at Cruz's splits of home and away, it is amazing. I don't like pitchers' park, neither those that favor hitters so blatantly. I think League needs to adjust some of these absurd parks and then we will see how great these hitters actually are. Five home runs in a NLCS game 6, that's atrocious.

baseballswami said...

FS - and now Pujols with another one -- only the third inning. Is this a softball tournament?

Waddu eye no said...

Does the tbs color guy sound just like Dave Feldman or what?

Just wonderin' said...

Better pitching in a softball tournament -- and I'm talking about slow pitch, rec league.

Waddu eye no said...

With some Seinfeld mixed in

Eugene in Oregon said...

This is going to be a long night of pitching changes...but at least I'm on west coast time...

baseballswami said...

This game is now officially crazy - we're going on 4 or 5 pitchers already, 6 homeruns, 11 runs. I am changing my description from softball tournament to little league game. Not to mention the fact that this game is going to go at least 4 hours at this point.

Gonat said...

Is Tony LaRussa still playing chess while Roenicke is playing "Candyland"?

Just wonderin' said...

Does anyone think asking the manager a question during a game is worthwhile? Has any manager -- regular season or playoffs -- ever offered any real insight?

NatsLady said...

I suppose I'm glad the Cards won, though now no baseball until Wednesday... Good luck to both World Series teams.

baseballswami said...

This may be a really strange series. A revolving door on the mound and lots of home runs? Seriously, though - is there anyone that saw this coming on September first? Or even later in September? The St. Louis Cardinals came from 10 and a half games back in late August to steal the wild card from the Braves and then went through the Phillies and the Brewers, who they destroyed at Miller Park for game 6. And they did it with basically one effective starting pitcher. Message - any team has a chance if they get hot and use the resources they have effectively.

natsfan1a said...

Had to set the DVR and go to bed after the 7th, but had a feeling it would be a happy flight again. Atta way, Cardinals! I'm actually glad to have a break for a couple of nights, as the late night games wear me out.

Thanks for the winter league info, Eugene.

natsfan1a said...

Agree that these games will likely feature plenty of pitching changes. I guess I'd better stock up on coffee before Wednesday. Yawn...

Gonat said...

Nyjer's line was 5 for 28 w/ a .179 BA and a 39% K-rate/AB in the Post-season. He had his 1 highlight moment to finish the NLDS and plenty of lowlights as the real Nyjer started to show up. Missing the cut off man yesterday and his spaghetti arm brought back un-fond memories.

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