2013 MLB Playoffs

First you get the pitching. Then you get the power, and then you get the World Series.

As the cliche goes, good pitching always beats good hitting. Fans have heard it drilled into their heads year after year after year.

That wouldn't be the case if it wasn't true. Time and again you see great offenses felled by a couple of great hurlers.

On Friday night, Michael Wacha became part of baseball history.

We know the when and half of the who, but we don't yet know the where.

As the Los Angeles Dodgers bowed out of the 2013 NLCS, the player that helped spark their remarkable run through June, July and August, Yasiel Puig, suffered through a difficult series at the plate, in the field and through the voices of critics.

Deviating from the trend of nail-biting NLCS battles, the St. Louis Cardinals routed the Los Angeles Dodgers, 9-0, in Friday night's Game 6 to clinch the 2013 National League pennant.

Closer Trevor Rosenthal brought the series to an end with this strikeout of A.J. Ellis: 

Pandemonium followed.

All the Yasiel Puig critics are already getting started on their "I told you so" columns. The phenom's poor defensive decisions in Friday night's third inning allowed the St. Louis Cardinals to build a 4-0 lead in Game 6 of the NLCS.

The Los Angeles Dodgers scored an early victory in Game 6 of the NLCS when Scott Van Slyke held firm and refused to budge before St. Louis Cardinals right-hander Joe Kelly finally broke his gaze during a tense pregame standoff.

After the national anthem, both men remained standing on the field, transfixed on one another. Exactly why they chose to do so remains up in the air.

It's understandable that even the best players go through their struggles at the plate, but did they really have to choose now?

Why can't everybody be like Justin Verlander? 2013 was actually one of his down years, leading some to believe he couldn't be counted upon as the ace of the Detroit Tigers pitching staff come playoff time.

Those fears have been unwarranted, as Verlander has given up just a single run in 23 postseason innings, striking out at least 10 batters in each of his three starts.

Going into the final two games of the St. Louis Cardinals-Los Angeles Dodgers matchup in the National League Championship Series, all the talk has centered on starting pitching.

It's impossible to imagine the opening three games of the American League Championship Series playing out any better for the Detroit Tigers. And yet, it's impossible to imagine the outcomes being any worse.

Despite a third straight unequivocally dominant effort by a starting pitcher, the Tigers somehow trail the Boston Red Sox two games to one.