2014 NLDS: St. Louis Cardinals vs. Los Angeles Dodgers

I know how I'd react to that in real life. I'm so much nicer here.

sorry. he was in complete command, except when they were battering him around.

godfuck

has anyone said "the mighty yasiel has struck out" yet that'd be a good one

so did everyone see that Marlon Anderson tweeted that Kershaw tips his pitches out of the stretch? CK sez nah.

http://www.thescore.com/mlb/news/595475

http://fat.gfycat.com/UniqueWearyAmericanindianhorse.gif

“I was hot. He knows me well. At that time I wasn’t thinking,” Molina said. Gonzalez “was screaming at me. I told him, ‘If you’re going to scream at me you’ve got to be ready to fight.’ I don’t let anybody talk to me that way.”

There is that Cardinal bitchiness everyone knows and loves.

eh, whatever. i'm sure adrian gonzalez was a bowl of oranges during that fight, too. you could randomly sample verbal fights from around the world on any day, type them up in any order, call it "Bitchiness" and i'm sure it would be a fitting title

i'm 100x more annoyed by cardinals whining about called strikes that are usually within an inch of the strike zone

There was a fight?!

yeah. wainwright hit puig early on (in the 3rd, i think). gonzalez was the next hitter and on his way to the plate he said that he had slept with molina's sister on the previous evening, and that it was really hot. molina countered that he had slept with gonzalez's brother two nights before that - "I was hot. He knows me well. At that time I wasn't thinking" - and things escalated from there. both wainwright and puig were calm, and they even shared an intimate butt tap as puig made his way to 1st after the hubbub.

i read "hubbub" as "hottub" and was sure for a second you were kidding about that entire chain of events.

lol

i would like to note that the butt tap part was true though

I think I'm the only person watching this game.

tie game

maaaaaarp

was greinke really done at 102 pitches

Nah, he was still unstoppable

Let's take this to the 19th inning, WHO'S WITH ME??

yeah, these marathons will be great for growing the game with all those fakey FIFA World Cup hipsters

lol at jp howell praising the heavens

Kemp, one hand

can't really expect Jansen not to surrender the lead, it must be in the rules

why is Lasorda not sitting with Magic? Getting a new intestine?

hey, we might have one 5-game series here

Game over? No blown save + extra innings, no credibility.

http://m.mlb.com/news/article/97769336/dodgers-tab-ace-clayton-kershaw-for-game-4-on-short-rest

I don't know--I always start from the assumption that this is a bad move, even though I know it sometimes works out. I'd rather have a rested Kershaw for game 5, with Greinke ready to go in Game 1 of the LCS if you win. No real sample to speak of in the regular season, but what is there isn't good: the only time he's pitched on three days rest was in 2008, when he went one inning of middle relief against the Giants, giving up two hits and a walk.

Haven't they done something similar last year?

Not during the regular season that I can see. If they tried it in the playoffs, I assume it didn't work out.

You're right, they did try it against Atlanta, and it worked out. Kershaw pitched the 5th game on three days rest, and went six innings: 3 H, 6 K, 1 BB, 2 R, neither earned. He left with the score tied 2-2, Dodgers went on to win.

I'd still hold him back. As I've said before, my feelings on that are heavily influenced by the way the Jays used Stieb in the '85 ALCS.

Boy, the ump missed that one.

Everyone in the booth thinks Kershaw in Game 4 is a "no-brainer." I'll amend my earlier post: if the Dodgers lose tonight, I can see the case for pitching him. If they win, hold him back.

few things in sports as beautiful as watching a center fielder make a play on the dead run with his back to the plate

Scully: "Shades of Terry Moore!"

Wow, 7 SOs in a row for Puig

Wow, 3 HRs in 3 games for marp

Wow, Harold Reynolds is really annoying

Lollygag standup triple

pweeeeeg

agh, the stream i was using went down

strikout.co has a million

thanks!

errrr strikeout.co

i just typed "strikout" again by accident apparently my brain is broken wrt this word

bullpen more like lolpen

Cardinals were also last in the league in HR? Getting closer to a strange improbability that has surely never happened before.

if the cardinals play the orioles in the world series it will be the first time that teams named after birds have battled for the title. neat huh? #jaysonstark

lol almost had me there - right?

now the great Short Rest Test

i guess we don't have rain delays in the PS anymore, as in the days of Bowie Kuhn

yay, extra game(s?)

ah, wrong game lol

A rundown of the eight three-days-rest starts in divisional series since 2013, including Kershaw last year:

http://espn.go.com/blog/sweetspot/post/_/id/52331/poll-right-move-to-start-kershaw

Two bad ones, six that more or less worked out. I voted for "Yes, but only if they're down in the series." They're down in the series.

You can't really justify not using the best pitcher in baseball in a must-win game. It's like losing a playoff game in the late innings without using your closer.

puig benched

plus having Zack for Game 5 should be good