And thank God for it. Congrats, Dodger fans! We've won the West! The Blue have once again come back to life. Though they're nowhere near as alive as I'd like to see them and nowhere as alive as they're going to need to be to somehow miraculously get past Chris Carpenter, Adam Wainwright, Albert Pujols, Matt Holliday and Ryan Ludwick. The Blue scored 5 runs in the 7th the other night and broke the spell, the trance-like mesmerization that oppoising pitchers had over them for the last 7 days. The alarm has gone off and the nightmare is finally over, perhaps just before it became a reality. Matt Kemp wound up hitting under .300 but had a fine year, as did Ethier. Martin and Loney still stink and Hudson is still fairly ineffective. We need Belliard. And we need Furcal to keep banging and Pierre to be ready, as always. Belisario should not be allowed to touch the ball again, but I assure you he will. So, here's what we have.
The 3 Scenarios:
The Likely Scenario:
Now, the new reality is afoot and it's the same reality that has haunted the Dodgers since they failed to land a top of the line starting pitcher before the trade deadline. They simply do not have arms to match those of - as far as I'm concerned - the NL's 2009 co-Cy Young Award winners in 19 game winner, Wainwright and 17 game winner, Carpenter. The Dodgers' bats? They've NEVER beaten Carpenter before and the way they're hitting of late, there's no reason to believe they'll beat him now. Unless, of course, the long dead bat of Manny is resurrected and his juiceless body rejuvenated. Too many things have to go right for the Dodgers. They simply must get into the Cardinals bullpen to win. Kershaw pitched a mountain of a game Saturday against the Rockies. He's going to have to at least duplicate that performance this week against the Redbirds. And Randy Wolf is going to need to pitch the game of his life on Wednesday in the opener at the Ravine. If these two guys don't throw shutouts, the chances are the Dodgers will lose because I just don't see their weak bats coming alive enough to overcome the likes of Carpenter and Wainwright. Down 2 games to zip and heading back to St Louie, I see the Dodgers folding up their tent at the new Busch and closing down their 2009 season. Cards in 3 or 4.
The Hoped For Scenario:
Carpenter and/or Wainwright do not toss as expected and Eithier gets hold of one. They manage to get a big inning in one of those games, their bullpen is able to hold down the lead and they manage to beat Piniero in Game 3 or Smoltz/Lohse in Game 4 and they come back to LA for a deciding Game 5. Seeing Carpenter one more time, they manage to eke out a win and move on to the NLCS. Dodgers in 5.
The Unlikely Scenario:
The Dodgers, suddenly and inexplicably running on all cylinders, bang out of the gate, give Carpenter a rather rude welcome and carry that momentum into Game 2 against Wainwright, along with gems by Wolf and Kershaw. They take that momentum to the Gateway to the West and Billingsley or Padilla pitches the game of his life. Dodgers in 3 or 4.
Let's see what happens and, Go Dodgers!!!!
Monday, October 5, 2009
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1 comments:
I realize you are fixated on the Dodgers-Cards series, but what do you think about Girardi making Jorge Posada ride the bench during game 2 (and possibly a deciding game 5) so that AJ can have his personal ball-washer behind the dish? That's a big bat to take out of the lineup. Sure, DH him. But what of Matsui, who is having an exceptional year in that slot? AJ is a fucking diva and his pie-throwing antics get on my nerves. He would never pull that shit on a true Yankee like Jeets or Mariano.
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