St. Louis Cardinals ready to face Philadelphia Phillies in Game of NLDS – MLB Playoffs
Although the Philadelphia Phillies are favoured to prevail in Game 5 of the National League Division Series on Friday, October 7 at Citizens Bank Park in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, the St. Louis Cardinals boast the best winning percentage in post-season
elimination games.
With the five-game series standing even at two-each, statistics indicate that the Cardinals have a 66 percent chance of coming out on top in the decisive game.
Phillies qualified for the post-season as Champions of NL East and dominated the circuit for almost the entire season. The Cardinals, on the contrary, fought hard to topple the Braves and qualify as NL Wild Card entrants. They have proved to be much stronger
than that in the playoffs, stretching the Phillies to the final game in the NLDS.
Cardinals had a shaky start to their campaign, losing 6-11 in the opener to probably the best pitching rotation in the Majors. Thereafter, Game 2 and 3 had nail-biting finishes and the Cardinals prevailed 5-3 in Game 4, when Phillies had a chance to wrap-up
the series.
Roy Halladay will start for the Phillies and will be up against Cardinals’ ace and long time friend Chris Carpenter in a match-up that is anticipated by many to be among the best in the history of the Majors. Both pitchers played together for the Toronto
Blue Jays and have a lot in common on the personal front as well, but with the Championship Series at stake, this friendship will subside for the game at least.
Cardinals’ manager Tony La Russa termed this as a “dream matchup” and stated that he had been looking forward to this for quite some time. He said, "It's going to be as good as it gets. We're looking forward to being there and trying our best. And they are
so close, they both have a lot of weapons. You can see each of those guys four times and they'll give you something different all four times.”
La Russa highlighted the fact that Halladay had more to his credit as far as the records and awards are concerned, but Carpenter is in the same category and has the technique to fight against the NL Cy Young Award candidate.
Tags: