MLB Wild Card Previews
National League
NL Wild Card: Milwaukee Brewers at Washington Nationals, Tuesday, October 1, 8:00 pm ET.
The Milwaukee Brewers face the Washington Nationals in the NL Wild Card elimination game. The winner heads to Los Angeles to meet the Dodgers in a five-game divisional playoff series. The loser goes home.
Brandon Woodruff gets the start for Milwaukee. He's 11-3 with a 3.62 ERA this season, and started just 22 games for the Brewers. The good news is that he's the best pitcher the Brewers have. On the downside, they're very weak in the bullpen, though Woodruff - unless the Nats tee off on him - should be able to go six or seven innings.
Max Scherzer should bring his "A" game, at least that's what the Nationals hope he will do. With a mark of 11-7 on the regular season, this was not a typical year for Scherzer. His ERA is still strong, at 2.92, and his 243 strikeouts were third in the NL, despite starting only four games in July and August combined.
What's concerning about Scherzer is that he was 6-0 with a 1.00 ERA in June, but just 2-2 in September. His longest September outing was 6 2/3 innings in a loss to St. Louis in which he allowed seven hits and five earned runs. Scherzer's September ERA is a whopping 5.16.
While the Brewers were red hot in September, they cooled off just in time to let the Cardinals win the Central division by two games. They were 20-4 for the month before being swept in Colorado the final three games of the season.
The Nationals went through a rough, 4-8, patch at the start of September, but finished strong, going 8-0 in the final stretch, including a five-game sweep of the Phillies and finishing up with a three-game sweep of Cleveland, all of those wins coming at home.
There are mixed signals for both clubs. Washington has momentum Scherzer, and home field, while the Brewers have a losing record on the road, their top hurler and a potent offense. The Nationals are heavily favored, but this match-up appears to be a lot closer than the consensus considers.
American League
AL Wild Card: Tampa Bay Rays at Oakland Athletics, Wednesday, October 2, 8:00 pm ET.
While the A's have yet to name a starter as of this writing, the Rays are going with their ace, Charlie Morton, who had a sensational season, racking up a 16-6 record with a 3.03 ERA. In 33 starts, Morton has struck out 240 in 194 2/3 innings, fifth-best in the AL.
Morton has the ability to go fairly deep into games on a team that has a versatile pitching staff with multiple role players. The Rays' ability to mix and match may serve them well in a one-game scenario. Despite not being adorned with big bats or superstar players, Tampa does everything with team in mind, seldom makes mistakes and can capitalize on opponents' miscues.
The A's definitely have the upper hand when it comes to hitting and power. Though their team average was .249 compared to Tampa Bay's .254, they had more home runs (257-217), RBI (800-730) and runs (845-769). Seven different players for the A's had 20 or more home runs, led by Matt Chapman and Matt Olsen, each with 36.
Tampa Bay will look for offensive spark from Tommy Pham and Willy Adames. Austin Meadows is their power guy, with 33 homers and 89 RBI.
This looks to be a tight one. Whoever starts for the A's will be expected to go at least four innings. Both teams were subjected to a tight wild card race which used up most of their resources until the final two games of the season. Having an extra day of recovery will aid both pitching staffs. The loser goes home, while the winner of this game heads to Houston to play a best-of-five divisional series.
National League
NL Wild Card: Milwaukee Brewers at Washington Nationals, Tuesday, October 1, 8:00 pm ET.
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| Scherzer: Nationals' starter |
Brandon Woodruff gets the start for Milwaukee. He's 11-3 with a 3.62 ERA this season, and started just 22 games for the Brewers. The good news is that he's the best pitcher the Brewers have. On the downside, they're very weak in the bullpen, though Woodruff - unless the Nats tee off on him - should be able to go six or seven innings.
Max Scherzer should bring his "A" game, at least that's what the Nationals hope he will do. With a mark of 11-7 on the regular season, this was not a typical year for Scherzer. His ERA is still strong, at 2.92, and his 243 strikeouts were third in the NL, despite starting only four games in July and August combined.
What's concerning about Scherzer is that he was 6-0 with a 1.00 ERA in June, but just 2-2 in September. His longest September outing was 6 2/3 innings in a loss to St. Louis in which he allowed seven hits and five earned runs. Scherzer's September ERA is a whopping 5.16.
While the Brewers were red hot in September, they cooled off just in time to let the Cardinals win the Central division by two games. They were 20-4 for the month before being swept in Colorado the final three games of the season.
The Nationals went through a rough, 4-8, patch at the start of September, but finished strong, going 8-0 in the final stretch, including a five-game sweep of the Phillies and finishing up with a three-game sweep of Cleveland, all of those wins coming at home.
There are mixed signals for both clubs. Washington has momentum Scherzer, and home field, while the Brewers have a losing record on the road, their top hurler and a potent offense. The Nationals are heavily favored, but this match-up appears to be a lot closer than the consensus considers.
American League
AL Wild Card: Tampa Bay Rays at Oakland Athletics, Wednesday, October 2, 8:00 pm ET.
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| Pham: Rays' sparkplug |
Morton has the ability to go fairly deep into games on a team that has a versatile pitching staff with multiple role players. The Rays' ability to mix and match may serve them well in a one-game scenario. Despite not being adorned with big bats or superstar players, Tampa does everything with team in mind, seldom makes mistakes and can capitalize on opponents' miscues.
The A's definitely have the upper hand when it comes to hitting and power. Though their team average was .249 compared to Tampa Bay's .254, they had more home runs (257-217), RBI (800-730) and runs (845-769). Seven different players for the A's had 20 or more home runs, led by Matt Chapman and Matt Olsen, each with 36.
Tampa Bay will look for offensive spark from Tommy Pham and Willy Adames. Austin Meadows is their power guy, with 33 homers and 89 RBI.
This looks to be a tight one. Whoever starts for the A's will be expected to go at least four innings. Both teams were subjected to a tight wild card race which used up most of their resources until the final two games of the season. Having an extra day of recovery will aid both pitching staffs. The loser goes home, while the winner of this game heads to Houston to play a best-of-five divisional series.
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