Intro
Texas Rangers vs. Tampa Bay Rays
New York Yankees vs. Detroit Tigers
Milwaukee Brewers vs. Arizona Diamondbacks
Philadelphia Phillies vs. St. Louis Cardinals
Philadelphia Phillies vs. St. Louis Cardinals
Game 1: Cardinals @ Phillies – Saturday, October 1st (5:07 p.m. EST)
Head-to-Head in 2010-2011: St. Louis 6 – Philadelphia 4
What You Need To Know: What will get the Phillies to the World Series is the same thing that made them successful throughout the entire regular season: starting pitching. People will point to the fact that Philadelphia has a formidable offense with players like Ryan Howard, Chase Utley, and Jimmy Rollins, but the reality is, the Phillies are a middle-of-the-road offensive team. When you’re ninth (out of sixteen teams) in the National League in team batting average and seventh in runs scored, you need your starting pitchers to perform well in order to win games. And when facing the St. Louis Cardinals, who happen to be number one in the National League in both team batting average and runs scored, the Phillies’ pitching rotation will need to be at the top of their game in order to advance to the NLCS.
St. Louis, on the other hand, has a starting pitching staff that is in the middle of National League rankings when it comes to ERA and runs allowed. Aside from Chris Carpenter, none of the other starters will be any overpowering threats to opposing hitters, but they are all solid pitchers who can still get the job done. Once again, we must reiterate that starting pitching wins chips and that is exactly what will determine the outcome of this series.
Staff Picks:
Ralph Warner: "Phillies in 4. The National League All-Star team will simply be too powerful for the Cardinals."
Angel Diaz: "Phillies in 5. The Cardinals are coming in hot, but it's tough to pick against Philly's starting rotation and monstrous line-up."
Jose Martinez: "Phillies in 4. The Miami Heat of baseball pitching rotations will rise to the occasion. And by that, I mean that Roy Halladay, the Phillies’ version of Dwyane Wade, will just have to do all the work while every other guy makes this series interesting."
Jack Erwin: "Phillies in 3. 'Miami Heat of pitching rotations'! You gotta trademark that Jose! But yeah, what they said. Matt Holliday and Albert Pujols are as good a 1-2 punch as their is in baseball, but you need to have your head examined if you're picking against the Phills and that pitching."