History favours Philadelphia Phillies to prevail against St. Louis Cardinals in Game 4 – MLB Update
The Philadelphia Phillies are favourites to prevail in game four of the National League Division Series against St. Louis Cardinals on Wednesday, October 5 at Busch Stadium in St. Louis, Missouri and subsequently seal a Championship Series berth.
Phillies have a handy 2-1 lead in the five-game series and with Roy Oswalt scheduled to start for the NL East Champions, odds of them prevailing in the game are high. Oswalt has started ten games in the post-season during his career, but has never faced
disappointment. He has a decent 5-0 record at an earned-run average of 3.25 and two of these wins have come against the Cardinals.
In 2005, Oswalt pitched against the Cardinals in game six of the Championship Series for Houston Astros. He tossed seven innings for just one run and struck-out six batters in the stretch to seal the NL pennant for the Astros. Here, Oswalt is in a similar
position against the Cardinals, but the stakes are not that high.
Oswalt was quick to add that stakes do not matter and a starting pitcher should always give 100 percent. He said, “I'm not going to really do anything different. I'm not going to pitch like someone different. I'm going to pitch the way I've been pitching
for 11 years now.”
Oswalt clarified that his approach will be to attack the hitters early in the game and get into rhythm as quickly as possible. In 23 starts this season, Oswalt has managed a 9-10 win-loss record, but his statistics do not represent his true worth. If history
and experience are to be relied upon, Oswalt will prevail.
Edwin Jackson will take the mound for the Cardinals in what will be his first start in the playoffs. Jackson pitched in a relief role for Tampa Bay Rays in game four of the 2008 World Series against the Phillies and allowed one run in his spell of two innings.
Keeping his focus on the game, Jackson said, "Our objective is to go out and win. Anything that happened back with Tampa, that was the past. I just took all the experience from it, and come out (Wednesday) and have fun."
If the Cardinals lose, this will be Albert Pujols’ last game with the Redbirds. His average against Oswalt is impressive and if the home-run machine gets going, the Cardinals might need to go back to Citizens Bank Park for the finale.
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