Pirates Take on Cardinals, Dodgers Play Atlanta to Begin NL Playoffs
The Pittsburgh Pirates have already dispatched one of their divisional foes, the Cincinnati Reds, in the one-game wild card playoff. Now, they head to St. Louis to take on another one of their bitter divisional rivals. Pittsburgh won its first playoff game in 21 years on Tuesday, and they don’t want the party to stop now.
“We know them, they know us,” Pirates manager Clint Hurdle said. “There won’t be any ball tricks, I hope. No Statue of Liberty plays.”
Pittsburgh will start pitcher A.J. Burnett in the game, and St. Louis will start Adam Wainwright. Burnett, much like his fellow staff ace Francisco Liriano, was a reclamation project who has found a second life in Pittsburgh, while Wainwright is an established star who got rocked in his last start.
“I guess the main thing is, over in New York, it’s expected every year, you know?” Burnett said. “You tend to get in there a couple of weeks before the season ends. And this one was more of a `Shock the world, we’re going to do it, we made it!”
“Well, aside from Clayton Kershaw this year, I’d argue that you could look at any single pitcher in the history of the game and they’re going to have a bad game or two in the course of 35 starts,” Wainwright said. I didn’t need to do anything different. I just had a bad day.”
Even though Pittsburgh has become a fan favorite, St. Louis is still favored to win both this game and the series overall.
“We played really well most of the year minus a couple of dips here and there that every team has,” said Matt Holliday. “I’d say, just try to roll that momentum into the postseason.”
All trends and odds come courtesy of OddsShark.com.
Pittsburgh Pirates vs. St. Louis Cardinals
St. Louis Cardinals: -145 Moneyline Favorites
A few Pirates at Cardinals trends to consider:
Pittsburgh is 6-1 SU in its last 7 games
St. Louis is 5-0 SU in its last 5 games
Los Angeles Dodgers vs. Atlanta Braves
The Atlanta Braves won their division handily, and the Dodgers locked up the NL West weeks ago. Both have coasted into the playoffs, which could either help or hurt them as they face off.
“I don’t think we necessarily let up,” Dodgers infielder Michael Young said. “In our situation, we had to get some guys healthy. A couple of guys needed a couple of days off, so we gave it to them. Now we’re ready to roll.”
“We clinched the division with a week and a half to go, but we still had home-field advantage we were fighting for,” Atlanta first baseman Freddie Freeman said. “We fought all the way to the end of the season. There was no edge taken away. We were competing every day, every game. That’s going to help us going in.”
The Braves have been dogged by playoff woes in the past, winning only one world series in their unprecedented run of winning their division from 1991 to 2005. However, they’re looking ahead.
“No one here was even part of it for those 14 years. I just caught the tail end of it that last year,” Braves catcher Brian McCann said. “I don’t think anybody thinks about that. Once the game starts, it’s just us vs. them.”
All trends and odds come courtesy of OddsShark.com.
Los Angeles Dodgers vs. Atlanta Braves
Los Angeles Dodgers: -135 Moneyline Favorites
A few Dodgers at Braves trends to consider:
LA Dodgers is 1-4 SU in its last 5 games
The total has gone UNDER in 7 of LA Dodgers’s last 9 games
Atlanta is 4-2 SU in its last 6 games
The total has gone UNDER in 12 of Atlanta’s last 17 games
