There has been no shortage of riveting, captivating, gut-punching baseball this October, one of the wildest in recent memory that’s seen unreasonable comebacks, swift upsets, over-managing, under-managing, the obliteration of what everyone thought they knew at the trade deadline and even an 18-inning Iditarod of a game.
But there is something about the NL divisional series between St. Louis and Los Angeles that’s making it the one you need to be paying attention to. Sure, the American League series were great in their own ways—Baltimore with its never-say-die rallies and offensive might, Kansas City with its come-at-us-bro swagger and how-do-you-not-cheer-for-this-team appeal.
But those series came and went like rain. If you checked out from television and the internet for a few days, as we all should from time to time, you may have missed them altogether. And both teams are currently on an unlikely four-day reprieve at the height of their seasons, before they begin what could be an epic AL championship series in Baltimore Friday night.
PROGRAMMING NOTE: Watch the NLDS on Sportsnet starting at 5 p.m Tuesday. EST. Listen on Sportsnet 590 The FAN starting at 7 p.m. EST.
And, yes, the Nationals are still alive after a 4-1 win Monday afternoon, although by little of their own doing after Madison Bumgarner made a critical seventh inning throwing error that let in two runs, the kind of mistake that goes from unfortunate to catastrophic in the post-season.
But the best series this fall has had to offer was in St. Louis Monday night where Hyun-Jin Ryu was good but John Lackey was better, and a pair of Cardinals hit curtain call home runs to push the Dodgers to the brink.
The first was Matt Carpenter, who has been prolific this post-season, becoming the first player in MLB history with both a home run and a double in three consecutive post-season games. An at-bat grinder who labours his way into deep counts, patiently waiting on his pitch, Carpenter has never been much of a power hitter, especially against left-handers (he hit just two home runs off of them all season). But the 28-year-old now has two against lefties in last three games, including his solo shot off Ryu in the third inning on Monday.
The second was Kolten Wong, a rookie this year after being a surprise late addition to the Cardinals’ post-season roster in 2013. You may remember him as the guy Koji Uehara embarrassingly picked off first base in the ninth inning of game four of last year’s World Series for the final out of the game.
Wong had played just 32 major league games when he went to the playoffs last season, but in 2014 the 23-year-old got into 113 and has looked immensely more comfortable in his second go-around. As rain streamed down around him in the seventh inning, Wong clobbered a Scott Elbert slider deep into his own team’s bullpen to give the Cardinals all the runs they would need to secure a 2-1 series advantage. The rookie was so jacked up he nearly made it around the bases before the ball fell back to earth.
It was one of those games that has a special feel to it, with the charged Missouri atmosphere, the inclement weather and the heightened stakes all combining to produce baseball that felt truly meaningful. It’s a long wait for games like this, more than six months after pitchers and catchers reported to spring training. That’s why the payoff feels so good when it finally gets here.
The whole series has had a special feel since game one when the Cardinals did what had erstwhile seemed impossible and made Clayton Kershaw look mortal. They strung together four straight singles against the likely NL Cy Young and MVP winner, before a two-out, bases-cleared double from — who else? — Matt Carpenter.
There was also the nastiness, when the benches cleared after Cardinals ace Adam Wainwright tagged Yasiel Puig with a fastball on the left shoulder, which got Adrian Gonzalez going, which in turn got Yadier Molina going, and caused quite a disturbance. Molina is so important to the Cardinals, such a knowing, guiding presence behind the plate, and you’ve never seen him so heated.
And there’s been controversy, as the Dodgers will certainly protest that umpire Dale Scott’s strike zone was maddeningly inconsistent Monday night, especially during a crucial ninth inning at-bat by Matt Kemp. They will have a point, although the unpredictability of Scott’s calls at least went both ways. And the matter of just six base runners through the game’s first eight innings may be a more fitting culprit for the Dodgers’ shortcomings.
Really, it’s a shame the series can only last five games. This is the second straight year these teams have met and it’s a matchup that’s beginning to feel like a defining rivalry of the era. The Dodgers, with their $230-million payroll, are built to win today, and the Cardinals, with their envy-of-baseball farm system, are built to win in perpetuity, but neither team can get to where they want to go without first barreling through one another. And the fact the Cardinals have only scored two more runs than the Dodgers in this series tells you all you need to know about how close these teams are.
So now it’s up to Kershaw, pitching less than 18 hours after the final out of game three and on just three days rest after his game one collapse, to save the Dodgers season. He’s been so dominant, so ridiculously efficient, that it’s hard to imagine him doing anything other than forcing the series to a deciding game five Thursday night in Chavez Ravine. Of course, who could have seen his unraveling in game one? And then again, who would dare bet against him?
All you can do is watch and see what happens next.
