Time appears to be fleeting for the Los Angeles Dodgers as they have found themselves down 3-1 in the National League Championship Series against the St. Louis Cardinals with one game left to play at Dodger Stadium. Most teams would crumble with their backs against the wall, one game away from elimination; however, as time and statistics have unveiled, this may be an opportune time for the Dodgers. Today marks the third time in LCS history (1969) that the Cardinals have led the series 3-1, but in both cases (1996 and 2012) the Cardinals ended up losing their ticket to the World Series by the Atlanta Braves and the San Francisco Giants respectively. If the Dodgers hope to continue this trend they’ll need help on both side of the ball.
Zack Greinke will taking the mound for the Dodgers just as he did in Game One. If Greinke can somehow duplicate his previous performance, eight innings with 10 strikeouts while only allowing two earned runs on four hits and one walk, the Dodgers might be in great shape. The only catch is that the Dodgers need to strike hard offensively and keep their rally going as opposed to just coasting like they did after Juan Uribe’s base-clearing two-RBI single in the third inning. Mark Ellis and A.J. Ellis have been the most dominant with the bat this series for either team, as both are hitting .294 or better with at least 13 at-bats apiece. While Adrian Gonzalez and Yasiel Puig got the job done in Game Three, it will be up to them as the unspoken leaders of the club to step up and contribute as an injured Hanley Ramirez continues to struggle at the plate. Ramirez has been dealing with a rib injury, and while there is no doubt that he’s playing on pure heart, he can’t be the only one doing so.
As for the Red Birds, like Greinke, Joe Kelly will be getting his shot at redemption. Kelly went six innings in Game One, allowing only two earned runs off of six hits and two walks while striking out five. In both of his outings in the 2013 postseason Kelly has been tagged for the two runs, so the odds of this happening for a third time certainly favor the Dodgers. Matt Holliday’s bat finally decided to wake up as his two-run home run proved to be the difference maker in the Cardinals’ 4-2 victory. Nonetheless, it was long overdue, just as contributions from Matt Adams, David Freese and especially Jon Jay are as well. Jay has been a borderline liability for the Cardinals on the field and behind the plate, nut he was a pivotal member of the 2011 World Series run and is still the best centerfielder the team has.
It’s hard to go against history tonight, so with that, it would appear that this series will be going back to St. Louis for Game Six on Friday. Not to take away from the Cardinals and their talent level, but the Dodgers are too good and too fired up emotionally to allow their fate to end in such a haste manner. The Dodger bats will be swinging hard and fast for the fences tonight. You should also expect the defense to be playing to the best of their ability to aid Greinke all the way to the end. If the Cardinals bats remain seemingly quiet, as they’ve done for most of the series, don’t be surprised if the Dodgers can somehow win this game in no-hit dominant fashion. Bold pick, but not foolish.