Oct 01

NL Wild Card Play-in Game

I have no trouble identifying my rooting interest in this game between the Reds and the Pirates. All through the Seventies it was the Reds and the Dodgers fighting for supremacy in the National League West, with the Reds winning six times to the Dodgers’ three during that decade. I’m predisposed to root against the Reds and for the Pirates anyway, and then there’s the Pirates’ whole backstory of their first winning season in twenty years and first appearance in the playoffs since 1992. So I’m for the Pirates here.

The Pirates start Francisco Liriano and the Reds counter with Johnny Cueto. Take note, America! Diversity!

The Wild Card matchup between Cueto and Liriano is just the third in postseason history between two starting pitchers from the Dominican Republic. In both 1999 and 2004, Pedro Martinez faced off against Bartolo Colon.

Reds v. Pirates, 5:00PM Pacific, 2:00PM Hawaii