Editorials

Dodgers 2013 Playoff Forecast: The St. Louis Cardinals

The Dodgers and the St. Louis Cardinals are two of the most storied franchises in baseball and together have combined to win 17 World Series titles.

Recently, it’s been the Cardinals that have found season end glory, winning two titles in the past seven years while the Dodgers haven’t won a title since the Kirk Gibson/Orel Hershiser era in 1988.



This season, the Dodgers were able to come out on top, winning four of the seven games. The Dodgers lost two out of three in the first series at home, which was right in the middle of their slow start and things looked bleak for them. In the midst of their incredible run, the Dodgers and Cardinals faced one another in August and the the Dodgers took three out of four decisively at Busch Stadium.

Match-ups:

The Dodgers still have to set-up their rotation, but their one and two starters are two of the best in the game in Clayton Kershaw and Zack Greinke. Meanwhile, the Cardinals rotation is also strong with their top three starters of Adam Wainwright, Shelby Miller and Lance Lynn.

Game 1: Kershaw (15-9), a lock for another Cy Young Award with his 1.83 ERA, 0.92 WHIP and 232 strikeouts, but he was 0-2 versus the Cards this season with a 4.14 ERA. He’d face off against Wainwright (18-9), a Cy Young award candidate with a 3.01 ERA, 1.08 WHIP and 214 strikeouts, but was 0-1 versus the Dodgers with a 3.86 ERA.

Game 2: Greinke (15-3), back in Cy Young form and earning the big contract he signed this offseason with a 2.67 ERA, 1.13 WHIP and 141 strikeouts and was 1-0 against the Cards with a 2.84 ERA. Miller, one of the Cardinals impressive rookies, (15-9) will probably take the mound for the Cardinals as he has impressed in his first full year with a 3.06 ERA, 1.21 WHIP and 169 strikeouts. In starts against the Dodgers, he had an ERA of 5.06 and had to leave a start at Busch Stadium when Carl Crawford lined one off his arm.

Next Page: Game 3 matchup and splits

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