2013 NLCS: Los Angeles Dodgers vs. St. Louis Cardinals

No excuse for airmailing the throw to home, although it didn't lead to a run.

I almost feel like they should have pinch hit for Wacha there and tried to really stick the dagger in.

Kershaw threw more pitches in the third (48) than in any inning in his career.

Morbs the bootleg stream on lemonparty.org isnt feezing at all. plus HD if option if you want.

one good play in LF. one bad one.

Grant Brisbee ‏@mccoveychron
Puig's decisions on when to make crazy throws and such are like a three-minute accordion solo in the middle of OK Computer.

No idea why Kershaw is still in there. He hasn't been right since the third.

I am wastered

Want to research post-season meltdowns by great starting pitchers, but I'm sure someone will have a full list up tomorrow.

RF

The second basemen regretted his throw to home mid-throw - hilarious slowmo replay

i'm a little tipsy myself.

xpost - ya - loved the head drop immediately following the throw! dodgers looking like real crud out there.

The idea that no error is charged there is why people write passionate screeds against the error.

Think it's time to go back to my movie.

Kershaw enjoying his thumb

wow

what the dodgers need right now is Scutaro

welp

Oh man!

it'd be nice to just go a year without the cardinals

congrats, you all get a year off, go pursue your secondary hobbies

is there a lamer major leaguer than matt adams? dude looks like a douchebag bouncer

f u matt adams rules

uh oh

Nothing like watching the season end with your fourth and fifth best relievers out there. But at least Kenley Jansen will be fresh for limiting the damage in the eighth!

Shouldn't they be pulling Wacha? The game is over, he had to run the bases in the last inning, save his arm for the WS.

http://www.stlcardinalbaseball.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/03/matt-adams-babe-ruth-cardinals-spring-training.jpg

Zachlon take a chill pill dude, dance dance revolution

Misspelling unintentional!

i wish i was drunk

Shouldn't they be pulling Wacha? The game is over, he had to run the bases in the last inning, save his arm for the WS.

No. The Cardinals are an organization with class and integrity.

jesus christ wacha

fire mattingly, trade kershaw

Wacha 'would be youngest NLCS MVP since Avery in '91.'

http://i.cdn.turner.com/si/multimedia/photo_gallery/1112/athlete.wags.90s/images/steve-avery.jpg

so i just got home, what happened. :-)

http://losangeles.dodgers.mlb.com/images/2005/04/08/gcgY9n9Y.jpg

http://i.a.cnn.net/si/2006/writers/albert_chen/10/28/weaver.cardinals/T1_1027_weaver.jpg

It'll be cool to see Beltran in the WS.

true but now i know i will want whoever comes out of the American League.

I usually root for the AL on principle, and that's what I'll be doing this year.

i usually root for the nl on principle

it's a struggle

Had to dvr and holy shit ^_________________^

http://youtu.be/s9XZXfxVHJs

go Tigers, or winter

yes, let the winter cold take all of them

^too big an advantage for Red Sox

Want to research post-season meltdowns by great starting pitchers

if we're using this callow level of "great," Andujar in '85 obv (man that was sweet).

I did think of Andujar, who was pretty good for a few years, but I meant HOF territory (realize it's still early for Kershaw). Someone mentioned Koufax's 6-0 loss in Game 2 of the '66 Series, but it's not even close: 6 innings, 6 hits, 4 runs, only one of them earned. (Willie Davis's three-error game.)

Schoenfield has an interesting thought up today--not saying it's true, but it caught my attention.

In this day when hitters swing from their heels no matter the count or situation, willing to trade strikeouts -- lots of strikeouts -- for home runs, the Cardinals excel at that old-school stat that everyone loves to denigrate: batting average.

They put the ball in play and that leads to more hits. They had the lowest strikeout rate in the majors this season -- as they also did in 2011, when they won the World Series -- and if there’s a trend to watch in the playoffs these days, it’s that: not striking out. Since 2009, teams that had the lower strikeout rate in the regular season have won 23 of 29 postseason series. The statisticians may argue that the sample size is too small to draw any conclusions; maybe they’re right. But tell that to the Cardinals.

(The reason I'm skeptical is that the odds of putting together a long string of hits seem especially long against a great pitcher like Kershaw.)

yes, IT'S STILL EARLY for Kershaw, and then you went on to ignore that

I mean, obviously it did happen last night, but as a deliberate, conscious approach against the Kershaws and Verlanders and, um, Wachas, I'm skeptical.

Well...Kershaw's got at least as much of a head start on the HOF as Trout, no? He'll have two Cys and a second-place at the end of this year, to go along with a 2.60 career ERA and lots else. He could be Dwight Gooden or Tim Lincecum, sure. I'd bet he ends up in the HOF. (Which is kind of irrelevant in terms of the Andujar comparison anyway--he's great right now in a way that Andujar never was.)

Or let me put it this way: if you extend the meaning of great to Andujar, I wouldn't have bothered asking the question. I'm sure that list would be really long.

I presumed you really meant "aces"

Okay, that's fair. Tudor and Cox were better that year--Tudor was a lot better--but Andujar was probably perceived as the staff ace that year.

Kershaw's got at least as much of a head start on the HOF as Trout, no?

by JAWS, Kershaw is 211th among starting pitchers, after 6 seasons.

Trout is 117th among CFs, after 2+.

I remember Andujar's meltdown fairly well. Even uglier than last night, set up by Denkinger's missed call the night before. Andujar looked like he was ready to murder someone when he was ejected.

However, after Horton gave up a single to Brett, Herzog immediately replaced him with the volatile Joaquín Andújar, normally a starter but pressed into relief. Andújar allowed an RBI single to Frank White to increase the Royals lead to 10–0 before the Cardinals came completely unglued. With Sundberg at the plate, Andújar twice charged home plate umpire Denkinger to disagree with his strike zone. First, Denkinger called an Andújar pitch a ball. Herzog, who had been berating Denkinger for most of the game, rushed from the dugout to defend Andújar, and was ejected—reportedly after saying to Denkinger, "We wouldn't even be here if you hadn't missed the fucking call last night!" According to Denkinger, he replied "Well if you guys weren't hitting .120 in this World Series, we wouldn't be here." The next pitch was also called a ball, and Denkinger ejected Andújar, who again lost his cool and charged at Denkinger. It took three teammates to restrain him and get him off the field.