A Theatrical... and Poorly Played.. Game 3

It was all Dodgers last night. A theatrical triple from Yasiel Puig and an amazing performance by Hyun-Jin Ryu marked a 3-0 victory over the St. Louis Cardinals. 

This series is not over, as not the series has a 2-1 advantage, in favor of the Cardinals. Because of how well the Dodgers played last night, and because of how poor the Cardinals played, this series might go from 2-0 Cardinals to 3-2 Dodgers, as the series has two more games in a row in Los Angeles. 

The question is: Will that actually happen? 

If you look at yesterday’s game, then it’s highly likely. The Cardinals could not get any run support for their ace, Adam Wainwright, and are now batting .134 in the series. Key mistakes by the Cardinals defense just made things worse. David Freese was the first one, who could have made a catch on a blooper, but it hit the heel of his glove. Matt Adams followed with a hard shot that went under his glove at first base.

Luckily for the Cardinals, the Dodgers made some defensive mistakes too. Mark Ellis had a ground ball go under his glove at second, and Andre Eithier just misplayed a ball in center and missed the ball. 

 

But the differences? The Dodgers were able to capitalize.

Baseball can sometimes be weird. The playoffs can be so unpredictable, like how the two players that got their respective teams to the World Series last year were Delmon Young for the Tigers and Marco Scutaro for the Giants. Zack Greinke, Clayton Kershaw, Max Scherzer, and now Adam Wainwright have started games in this round, have allowed a combined total of six runs (five earned), and their teams have not won any of those four games. 

It’s unfortunate, because sometimes even your best starter can’t get it done. That was the problem with the Dodgers- they lost their best two starters in the first two games. But lucky for them, Hyun-Jin Ryu was miraculous. Seven innings of shutout ball, combined with two perfect innings by Brian Wilson and Kenley Jansen, allowed it to be a pitching wonder for the Dodgers.

A quick note on Brian Wilson: he has come out saying that since his two surgeries, he actually feels better than when he was on the Giants. It looks like the case too, as he’s been able to get his velocity and accuracy up big time. Man, when you have a set-up man that’s Brian Wilson, you know that you’ll go far. Fear the beard!

Puig’s triple was the result from another Cardinal misplay- when Jon Jay and Carlos Beltran miscommunicated on a fly ball, allowing Mark Ellis to get a double. Adrian Gonzalez would double in Ellis, and Puig would triple in Gonzalez. What’s great about Puig is that he brings the crowd into it. 

You may think that he is arrogant and a jerk, like many other baseball players believe, but he has that excitement.

When he hit the ball, he had a huge bat flip and raised both arms because he thought he hit the ball out, but instead it hit the base of the wall in right field. It was his first hit of the series.

More miscues by the Cardinals defensively and on base just made it a bad night. If they can recover from those plays, then things can change in this series. But right now, they are not the St. Louis Cardinals.

They have a chance to make it up with Lance Lynn on the mound. Lynn, who went 15-10 with a 3.97 ERA, goes up against Ricky Nolasco, who went 13-11 with a 3.70 ERA. Lynn had a rough outing against the Pirates in the Divisional Series, but he did get the win in that extra inning Game 1 in this series. Nolasco was scheduled to pitch Game 4 of the Divisional Series against the Atlanta Braves, but they instead gave the ball to Kershaw. Because Kershaw pitched Game 4, I don’t think that’ll be the case again.

While I still like the Cardinals taking the series, I think that the Dodgers can take Game 4. Although offense has struggled for both teams, watch both offenses come out in tonight’s game.

We’re back to a two game day today, as the Tigers and Red Sox will have their Game 3, as the series moves to Detroit for three games. Remember what happened two nights ago. Unfortunately, I don’t think Game 3 will be as fun as that one. 

The series is tied, and hopefully the Tigers won’t blow a lead from one of the best starters in baseball. Justin Verlander, who has been incredible this postseason so far, went 13-12 with a 3.46 ERA this year, and is going up against John Lackey, who went 10-13 with a 3.52 ERA in the regular season.

The Tigers are batting .243 in this series, while the Red Sox have a mediocre .136 average. But the Sox have been hitting in the clutch, which is always helpful. Justin Verlander is still Justin Verlander, however, and I have the Tigers winning Game 3.

What do you think? Email me at statsbuddy42@gmail.com for any questions/comments/concerns.

-Evan Boyd