A lot has changed since and both teams have a chance Monday to win their respective division series matchups at home. Here is how the pivotal Game 3 went down for each club.
St. Louis Cardinals (3) at Pittsburgh Pirates (5) – Pirates lead series 2-1
- Give props to Carlos Beltran. He hit his second homer of the series and 16th career postseason bomb, putting him ahead of Babe Ruth on the all-time list.
- Francisco Liriano did exactly what he needed – pitch the Bucs toward the late innings with a chance to win it. Liriano went six innings allowing two runs and just five base runners while striking out five.
- Andrew McCutchen has reached base eight times in 13 plate appearances.
- 11 of the 13 Pirates’ RBIs in the series have been driven in by Marlon Byrd (3), Pedro Alvarez (4) and Russell Martin (4)
Cardinals – Michael Wacha (4-1 2.78 ERA)
Pirates – Charlie Morton (7-4, 3.26 ERA)
Atlanta Braves (6) at Los Angeles Dodgers (13)
- Neither rookie looked good in this one – Hyun-Jin Ryu was removed for a pinch-hitter after three innings of four-run ball. Julio Teheran was worse lasting just 2.2 innings, giving up six runs.
- Great work by reliever Chris Capuano – 3 IP, 0 hits, 3 BB and 0 runs. He stopped the bleeding and allowed the Dodgers to go wild on offense.
- Hanley Ramirez has a 1.802 OPS in the series (I know it is a small sample, but I love looking at it) and Yasiel Puig continues to set the table and deliver runs in all sorts of ways.
- Second baseman Mark Ellis is having himself a series too - .500/.636/.750
- There were rumblings that the Dodgers may ask Game 1 winner Clayton Kershaw to go on three days’ rest to put a dagger in the Braves season. We’ll see…
Braves – Freddy Garcia (4-7, 4.37 ERA)
Dodgers – Ricky Nolasco (13-11, 3.70 ERA)
Both American League Division Series pick back up Monday as well as the scenes shift to Detroit and Tampa.
Oakland Athletics at Detroit Tigers – Series tied 1-1
Game 3 Probables
Athletics – Jarrod Parker (12-8, 3.97 ERA)
Tigers – Anibal Sanchez (14-8, 2.57 ERA & 202 Ks)
The Tigers were 51-30 at home while the A’s went 44-37 on the road this season.
Boston Red Sox at Tampa Bay Rays – Red Sox lead series 2-0
Probables
Red Sox - Clay Buchholz (12-1, 1.74 ERA).
Rays - Alex Cobb (11-3, 2.76 ERA regular season; 1-0, 0.00 ERA this postseason)
Rays were 51-30 at home while the Red Sox went 44-37 on the road.
Another four-game schedule today for baseball junkies! Enjoy the games!
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