Dodgers Hope History Repeats, As Kershaw Tries To Keep Dodgers Alive In NLCS Game 6

Dodgers Lineup @ St. Louis-Game 6

Crawford 7 M.Ellis 4 Gonzalez 3 Hanley 6 Puig 9 Ethier 8 Uribe 5 A.J. Ellis 2 Kershaw 1

Clayton Kershaw vs. Michael Wacha

*Lineup changes*- For the Cardinals, Jon Jay is not in the lineup, and replaced by Shane Robinson in center field.

*Update again* The Dodgers have just announced that Hanley will in fact be in the lineup. He’s batting cleanup behind Gonzo. The Dodgers were just trolling all of us I guess.

Well guys, could this all just be history repeating itself? We sure hope so. The Cardinals have been here before. We haven’t, but the Cardnals have. We remember last year, and I’m sure the Red Birds remember it vividly too. The Dodgers are hoping the Cardinals remember. The Cardinals might say that it’s not on their minds, but you know it has to be. You know it’s somewhere in the back of their minds. Last season the Cardinals had a 3-1 series lead over the Giants before letting it all get away in a hurry, and losing the last three games, and the pennant. So can this all be a little bit of history repeating? It would be glorious. Yadier Monline would be sad. Think about how wonderful that would be. We’ve seen this befoooooore……

It all comes down to this. Game 6. The Dodgers enter Friday night’s NLCS game 6 trailing the Cardinals in the series 3-2. The Dodgers must win both games this weekend in order to advance to the World Series, while the Cardinals just need to win one of the two. The odds are against the Dodgers, but remember this club has defied the odds all season long. There is no reason to think they can’t win two games in a row on the road. They were the club that set a franchise record with 15 consecutive road wins.

But it’s not going to be easy. The Dodgers will have to deal with this Michael Wacha kid again, as game 6 gives us a pitching rematch of game 2. Once again Wacha will battle Cy Young winner Clayton Kershaw. Last time in game 2, Wacha beat Kershaw in an agonizingly horrid 1-0 victory. Kershaw gave up just one run on two hits, and lost because the Dodger offense just couldn’t do anything against Wacha.

It’s all up to you Kershaw-Daniel Shirey-USA TODAY Sports

Wacha certainly has some electric stuff. The kid is 6’6 and uses different arm angles while coming at you from a downward slope. Remember randy Johnson? He was so huge that when he took the mound and pitched it looked like he was like ten feet tall, and almost handing the ball to you. That’s kind of like this kid Wacha. He’s big and tall, and comes at you with powerful stuff. Wacha allowed just five hits, and whiffed eight in 6.2 frames to the Dodgers in the second game. Hopefully the Dodgers have learned from last time, and can make some adjustments this time around. Wacha is mainly a fastball (Powerful mid to late 90’s) and changeup guy. His changeup is his best pitch. According to the numbers, batters are hitting just .182 off of his changeup, and he’s given up just one extra-base hit in over 300 changeups thrown this season. That’s impressive. But as the TBS announcers love to tell you every ten minutes, game 2 was shrouded in the shadows for the first part of the game so the Dodgers may not have been able to pick up the ball well. This is a night game, so the shadows shouldn’t be a factor. Wacha has a 2-0 record in the postseason with an incredible 0.64 ERA. In the playoffs, this kid has whiffed 17 in 14 frames, while allowing just three walks, and one lone run. Can the Dodgers adjust and figure this kid out?

Jayne Kamin-Oncea-USA TODAY Sports

I’m sick of this Wacha kid-Scott Rovak-USA TODAY Sports

He’ll have to beat Kershaw for a second time, and that is going to be extremely difficult. Actually the Cardinals have beaten Kershaw twice this season, once coming in this NLCS. Of course the Dodgers scored nothing for him in those two losses. That’s the problem, Kershaw’s lack of run support.

Kershaw of course has been dominating in this postseason. He has an ERA of 0.47, and has allowed just one earned run in his 19 playoff innings. That means he’s whiffed 23 and walked 5, while posting a 1-1 record. Kershaw limited the Cardinals to just two hit in his six dominant frames in game 2. The only run scoring off of him was because of a double to David Freese, a passed ball from A.J. Ellis, and a sacrifice fly from Jon Jay. Tonight Kershaw looks to send the Dodgers t a game 7. Kershaw had a 2.14 ERA on the road in 2013, and limited lefties to a .165 average against. The Cardinals have struggled against left handers all season long, and the Dodgers have two lefties lined for games 6 and 7. Hyun-jin Ryu is scheduled to start game 7 if the Dodgers can win on Friday. Here’s another amazing stat about Kershaw. The Cy Young winner has held batters to a .136 average with two strikes. That’s probably why the Cardinal hitters were swinging early in counts. That still didn’t work. When Kershaw receives 3 or more runs of support, he is 12-1. But when he receives two runs or less, he is 4-8. So let’s get Kershaw some run support shall we boys? Kershaw is 4-5 against the Cardinals with a 3.75 ERA. Here’s how the Red Birds match up against Kershaw.

PA

AB

H

2B

3B

HR

RBI

BB

SO

BA

OBP

SLG

Matt Holliday

45

35

10

1

0

1

2

10

8

.286

.444

.400

Carlos Beltran

28

24

5

2

0

0

1

3

9

.208

.286

.292

Yadier Molina

27

24

6

2

0

0

1

3

4

.250

.333

.333

David Freese

20

17

4

2

0

0

2

2

2

.235

.300

.353

Matt Carpenter

15

15

3

0

1

0

1

0

2

.200

.200

.333

Adam Wainwright

10

6

2

1

0

0

2

2

1

.333

.500

.500

Jon Jay

9

7

1

1

0

0

1

1

3

.143

.222

.286

Pete Kozma

7

7

4

3

0

0

3

0

0

.571

.571

1.000

Daniel Descalso

6

4

2

0

0

0

0

2

0

.500

.667

.500

Tony Cruz

3

3

1

0

0

0

1

0

0

.333

.333

.333

Shane Robinson

3

3

1

0

0

0

0

0

0

.333

.333

.333

Matt Adams

2

2

0

0

0

0

0

0

1

.000

.000

.000

Joe Kelly

2

2

0

0

0

0

1

0

0

.000

.000

.000

Shelby Miller

2

2

0

0

0

0

0

0

1

.000

.000

.000

Michael Wacha

2

2

0

0

0

0

0

0

2

.000

.000

.000

Total

181

153

39

12

1

1

15

23

33

.255

.346

.366

 

Don Mattingly told the media that Hanley Ramirez, and Andre Ethier will both be in the starting lineup for game 6. Hanley is still nursing his fractured rib, and Ethier his sore ankle. Hanley has gone 0 for 8 since game 3, and has looked to be in severe pain with every swing. The thing is, having his presence in the lineup makes the club so much better. He just has to be in there for 7 innings. He doesn’t even have to swing, just prop him up at the plate, and wrap him in Kevlar. Speaking of which, he should be wearing his flak jacket again, and will be completely insulated.

The Dodgers have to figure out how to hit this Wacha kid, otherwise the fun is over. Wainwright looms in game 7, but I think if the Dodgers can get it there, they stand a good chance of pulling off this amazing comeback. The history books are on the Dodger’s side. Check out the past clubs to force a game 7. The majority of the clubs that win game 6, also end up winning the seventh game as well.

World Series was only postseason round until LCS play started in 1969. LCS was best-of-five series until 1985, when it moved to a best-of-seven series.

As you can see if the Dodgers can somehow win game 6, then history would be on their side. 29 of the 50 teams that win game 6, go onto win game 7. See how easy it is? I joke of course. I just hope this isn’t the end. I hope we get to do another recap tomorrow, and then at least four more next week. But if the Dodgers don’t win, we need to make sure to monitor the cardinal’s celebrations. They can only fist pump twice per player. Only one bottle of champagne per player should be opened, and shouting has to be kept to a minimum level. Anything else would just be uncivilized and not “classy”.

The Dodgers are going to have to play a near flawless game to take this. They have no margin for error. One Beltran bomb, one Holliday shot, and it’s over. They can’t make any bumbles, or tootblans. This entire game will be sketch. All joking aside, I hope this isn’t the last pregame I write this season. If this is the last game, well, I’m not going to say goodbye. I’ll just say see you later. Again, no matter the result, win or lose, we’ll be here to bring you the recap. Thanks again for reading all throughout the season with us. Two more wins gives the Dodgers their 22nd National League pennant.

Game Time-5:37 PM

TV-TBS

Go Blue!!!