The St. Louis Cardinals and New York Mets jumped out to 1-0 leads as the National League Division Series kicked off Friday night. As expected, pitching took center stage, as there were just eight runs scored in the two games combined.
It's no surprise scoring opportunities were tough to come by. The five teams that made the playoffs in the National League, including the eliminated Pittsburgh Pirates, all ranked in the top five in team ERA during the regular season. So the pitchers will shine and clutch hitting is essential.
Let's check out all of the important viewing information for Saturday's matchups. That's followed by a preview and prediction for both Game 2 clashes.
Saturday's Schedule
Game Predictions
Chicago Cubs at St. Louis Cardinals (STL up 1-0)
Game 1 represented why the Cardinals have become one of baseball's model franchises. Veteran starter John Lackey, a merely average pitcher over the prior six seasons, continued to pitch like a reborn ace, while the offense was supplied by a pair of unheralded outfielders in Stephen Piscotty and Tommy Pham.
Rarely does St. Louis make a series of splashy moves. Instead, the front office is able to find value, whether it's through free agency, trades or the draft. The latter is particularly important to replenish the farm system and keep the team in contention on an annual basis.
As always, the team that loses the opener in a five-game set faces a lot of pressure in Game 2. But Cubs rookie slugger Kyle Schwarber tried to downplay the urgency, as noted by Jenifer Langosch and Carrie Muskat of MLB.com.
"It's a race, it's not a sprint. The Pittsburgh [Wild Card Game] was a sprint," Schwarber said. "This is a nice little jog that we need to pace ourselves. If we go out there and win the next game, we put ourselves in a pretty good situation and go back home to our crowd. We're not too worried. We are frustrated that we lost, but it happens."
The task certainly doesn't get any easier for Chicago on Saturday. The Cardinals send Jaime Garcia to the mound. He posted a 2.43 ERA in 20 starts during the regular season. The Cubs counter with Kyle Hendricks (3.95 ERA), who's coming off two straight starts of six scoreless innings.
Along with a solid outing from Hendricks, the visitors also need a better showing from Kris Bryant and Anthony Rizzo. The power-hitting duo failed to get a hit in seven at-bats in Game 1, which was a major reason the Cubs offense could never get going.
In what should be a close, low-scoring game—a phrase that will be used a lot during the NL playoffs—the Cards have a slight edge thanks to Garcia.
Pick: Cardinals 3, Cubs 2
New York Mets at Los Angeles Dodgers (NYM up 1-0)
You couldn't have scripted Game 1 much better for the Mets. They went into Los Angeles and beat Clayton Kershaw to grab the early series advantage. A lot of the credit goes to Jacob deGrom, who racked up 13 strikeouts in seven scoreless innings.
Everything is coming together for New York at the right time. The team's pitching staff has been tremendous all season, but getting the offense going with a healthy David Wright alongside Curtis Granderson and Yoenis Cespedes makes the NL East champs a serious contender.
Now it's up to the Dodgers to respond, and they have the right man on the mound to do it. Zack Greinke went 19-3 with a microscopic 1.66 ERA. Los Angeles certainly doesn't want to head out on the road down 2-0 with recent history already working against it, per ESPN Stats and Info:
Noah Syndergaard will oppose Greinke. He had a strong rookie campaign with a 3.24 ERA and 1.05 WHIP across 24 starts. One of those did come against the Dodgers back in July. He went six innings and gave up just one run. The Mets would gladly take that effort again Saturday.
Los Angeles found itself in the same position one year ago after it lost the opener at home to the Cardinals. The Dodgers bounced back to tie things up in that series and have a good chance to do the same here.
Pick: Dodgers 4, Mets 2
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