2013 MLB Championship Series Preview

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Los Angeles Dodgers vs. St. Louis Cardinals
Yes, the Dodgers had a relatively easy team stifling the Atlanta Braves in the Division Series.  They had no answer for Dodgers starter Clayton Kershaw who struck out 18 Braves hitters over 13 innings pitched in his two starts.  Most likely he will start two if not three games in the NLCS against the Cardinals if it goes to seven games.  To help avoid that scenario though the Dodgers will need their other ace Zack Greinke to be better and to lesson the pressure on a semi-weak bullpen.  Los Angeles’ lineup was fantastic.  Seven of their starters batted .333 or higher in the 4-game series with the Braves.  SS Hanley Ramirez batted .500 with 6 RBI and OF Carl Crawford crushed 3 HR in the four games.  If the Dodgers continue to get that kind of production it will give the pitching staff plenty of breathing room for the entire series.
It wasn’t easy as the St. Louis Cardinals beat their division rivals the Pittsburgh Pirates in five games.  If the Cardinals don’t want to have to claw their way back into this series with the Dodgers, they will need a lot more from 3B David Freese and 2B Matt Carpenter. Freese did have a big game against the Pirates in the series clincher, but he will need to re-create that postseason magic he had in 2011.  Carpenter has been a clutch hitter all season long, but his .053 batting average and 6 strikeouts against the Pirates was a bit of a surprise.  His .318 regular season batting average say that he is much better than that.  The Cardinals pitching staff presents a good counter to the Dodgers best starters.  Adam Wainwright was a proven staff ace with his 1.13 ERA and 15 strikeout to 1 walk ratio in his two starts against the Pirates. Rookie Michael Wacha and Joe Kelly were solid as well in their starts and will need to repeat that against a tough Dodgers lineup. St. Louis has a much better bullpen than the Dodgers, but it will start with the starting staff.
Dodgers in 6 games
Detroit Tigers vs. Boston Red Sox

The Tigers are here in the ALCS for the third straight year and have only one World Series appearance to show for it.  Detroit believes that this year is different, but they will have a much tougher test this year than they did last year with a banged up New York Yankees team.  Max Scherzer was solid against the Oakland Athletics in the Division Series, but Justin Verlander stymied them again with a flawless start in Game 5.  Boston has a better lineup than Oakland, but the Tigers pitching staff can compete with the best lineups in baseball.  Some players had a tough going in the Division Series for Detroit.  OF Austin Jackson struck out 13 times and had a .100 batting average.  OF Torii Hunter batted only .158 and 3B Miguel Cabrera only had a .250 average, but his two-run HR in Game 5 was a big lift early in that game.  DH Victor Martinez and SS Jhonny Peralta, who returned from a 50-game suspension for PED use, were both instrumental in getting the Tigers out of the Division Series.  They’ll have to do so again with Boston.

It wasn’t a fair fight from the start.  Tampa Bay couldn’t keep score with the Red Sox and the Rays pitching staff couldn’t stop Boston from scoring runs at key moments.  It is an amazing transformation for the Red Sox franchise.  They’ll have to continue to score a lot of runs with AL MVP candidate Miguel Cabrera coming to town.  Jake Peavy and Jon Lester are the savvy veterans at the top of the rotation, but Clay Buchholz and John Lackey have some postseason experience too and they are a good match against the Tigers 3 and 4 starters.  Boston’s bullpen is their strength once again and will be counted on to keep Detroit’s lineup quiet late in the game.  OF Jacoby Ellsbury is on fire batting .500 in the Division Series and he sets the tone for the scoring outbursts that Boston puts on their opponents.  With DH David Ortiz in the middle driving in baserunners the Tigers will need to have someone else beat them instead of giving Ortiz a chance to cause trouble.

Red Sox in 5 games

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