MLB Playoffs: The St. Louis Cardinals host the San Francisco Giants in Game 1 of the NLCS on Saturday. The matchup in Game 1 is expected to have Madison Bumgarner against Adam Wainwright. The Cardinals are slight favorites to win the opener as they are listed at -132 with the total at 6.5 under. The Cardinals are also favored to win the series simply because they have the home field advantage. Let’s look at the matchup and MLB playoff predictions.
NLCS Schedule
Game 1 @STL: Saturday, Oct. 11
Game 2 @STL: Sunday, Oct. 12
Game 3 @SF: Tuesday, Oct. 14
Game 4 @SF: Wednesday, Oct. 15
Game 5 @SF: Thursday, Oct. 16 (if necessary)
Game 6 @STL: Saturday, Oct. 18 (if necessary)
Game 7 @STL: Sunday, Oct. 19 (if necessary)
Starting Rotations
The Giants have a solid rotation of Madison Bumgarner, Jake Peavy, Tim Hudson and Ryan Vogelsong while the Cardinals will be going with Adam Wainwright, Lance Lynn, John Lackey and Shelby Miller. It is worth noting that Wainwright has not pitched that well of late and hasn’t felt right so there is a chance Michael Wacha could take his spot.
Game Notes
The Giants won the season series 4-3, outscoring the Cardinals 30-20 but the teams have not played since early July. The teams met two years ago in the NLCS and the Giants came back from a 3-1 deficit to win four games to three. “It’s really amazing to have two clubs have the success that both have had the last four or five years,” Giants manager Bruce Bochy said, “What they’ve done is incredible, four straight years. That’s a model of consistency. The Cardinals have a lot to be proud of, as we do.” One of these teams will be playing again in the World Series. “It’s pretty crazy that one of us is going to end up in the World Series for the fifth straight year,” the Giants Brandon Crawford said.
MLB Playoff Predictions
If Wainwright was healthy then you could make a case for going with the Cardinals but he isn’t and that could be the difference in a close series so we’ll go with the Giants to win the NLCS.
