NL Wild Card Game, 2021

The Washington Post asks, “why is the World Series favorite in a play-in game?” and proceeds to tell its readers why the Dodgers are favored to win the whole schmeer.

The other NL contenders simply cannot match the depth on the mound or at the plate that Los Angeles brings to the table. While the Dodgers’ road appears harder than those of other teams, the hardest road of all is for any team with the Dodgers standing in front of them.

Cardinals at Dodgers , 5:10 PM PDT, TV: TBS

Grizzled veterans face one another as the Cards send 40-year-old RHP Adam Wainwright (17-7, 3.05 ERA) to the Dodger Stadium mound to face the Dodgers’ 37-year-old RHP Max Scherzer (15-4, 2.46 ERA).

Much has happened on this day in baseball history: Sandy Koufax took Yom Kippur off in 1965, Mudcat Grant became the first black World Series game-winner for an American League team when the Twins took Game 1 from the Dodgers at Metropolitan Stadium in 1965, Willie Davis made three errors in the fifth inning of Game Two of the 1966 World Series, Jim Palmer beat Koufax in the same game, Phil Niekro won his 300th game in 1985, and Lenny Harris surpassed Manny Mota’s career pinch-hit record in 2001.

Cardinals lineup:

Dodgers lineup:

500 thoughts on “NL Wild Card Game, 2021

  1. In the past Roberts has been blamed for a few losses so maybe we should give him credit for managing this game. Everything he did worked including puling Scherzer.

  2. Pitching lines up well for Dodgers. Buehler and Urias in games 1 and 2. Scherzer in LA for game 3 on Monday. Gonzo probably gonna have to pitch game 4. I like our chances.

    • Doesn’t usually work that way. Depends on match ups and much more flexible for making double switches than Pollock. Will certainly play.

  3. You hang a slider, and even Chris Taylor, hitting .111 in the last 5 weeks, can bang em.

  4. Game over 4 hours now,m and not through 9 innings yet. I dislike post season ads dragging this out.

    • Turner colder than Belli last month of the season. Probably costing him alot of money on his next contract.

  5. It was a blooper in the first inning that led to a Cards run so let’s return the favor and score on Trea’s swinging bunt.

    • Takes me back to when all three Molinas were in the big leagues and ESPN would have fun yelling “Name that Molina” during SportsCenter.

    • Joe West ranked 96th out of 99 umps behind the plate this year with an accuracy rating of 91.1. He also had the most missed calls.

  6. I have a meeting tonight – that I’m leading – but hopefully I will be around by the 3rd inning or so.

    Go Dodgers!

  7. Bill Shaikin of the Times on Seager’s future with the Dodgers (or not).

    Fun coincidence: Seager won an SUV when he was named MVP of the World Series last year.

    His honor came with a trophy. It also came with a sport utility vehicle, a Chevy Tahoe, which his wife Mady happily drives.

    “That is the exact same car she wanted for a wedding gift — color, make, everything,” Seager said. “It worked out great for me.

    “We got it, like, a week after our wedding. It was perfect. Showed up to the dealership, there it was, drove it home.”