NLCS Game 1 Thread: Oct. 11 vs. Cards, 5.30p

Zack Greinke (0-0, -.-- ERA) vs. Joe Kelly (0-0, -.-- ERA)

This NLCS matchup is what most so-called experts predicted at the beginning of the season, by all accounts. Yet the two teams took different paths to get here. St. Louis mostly took the direct path, i.e., they were pretty damn good all season. The Dodgers, on the other hand, took a winding path that almost got them lost and eaten by rabid dingoes, but ended up right back where the predictions originally had them.

We send Zack Greinke, our Ace #2, out to try to take the first game from under the Cards and keep the momentum going from the NLDS. We'll need it, especially from the hot bats of Ramirez, Crawford, Uribe, and Puig. The addition of Ethier, who is likely to gets the start tonight, should add to that firepower. The Cards will counter with an offense that is driven by manufacturing runs, especially with RISP,  by a bunch of light-to-medium-hitting white guys.

Let's pause a moment to taunt St. Louis:

Cardinals 2013 Team Picture

Personally, I started out the day nervous. Then I read Sax's morning post about the cliched media narrative on the Dodgers and Cards, and I got angry. Then I saw the post-season roster, and I got thirsty. Then I listened to analysis of the matchup on a few radio shows, and got nervous, angry, thirsty all at once. And that's pretty much where things stand now. After all the predictions, though, and all the analysis, it will come down to what it always does: Dodgers gotta keep pitching.*

cc: Fred's Brim

*That, and which shirt SoSG Sax wears

Dodgers tickets

image: courtesy Ft. Wayne, IN Civic Center